


Miracle Trinkets and Bonds (HIATUS)

by twixitativi



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Different Names, F/M, Fanon Felix - Freeform, Fluff, Gen, Not always canon compliant, Quantic Kids - Freeform, Slow Burn, Twin AU, borrows aspects from other aus, different POVs, just a dab of salt here and there, kwamis have no specific gender, long chapters planned ahead, not beta read because who needs tHAT, not everyone is too incredibly stupid, not following episode release order because it's stupid lol, people show up frequently not just when necessary, schedule? we'll see, some fixing, some... fixing, spoilers for all three available seasons but not immediately, updates every other Monday, we gonna explain some shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22324951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twixitativi/pseuds/twixitativi
Summary: Two pairs of twins add quite a bit of difference to what was once a simple tale.(Inspired by edorazzi's twin au [hard not to be, it's so incredibly phenomenal] and numerous other fanfictions that I have read, plus my own stupid imaginings lol)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire | Rena Rouge/Nino Lahiffe | Carapace, Felix Agreste | Chat Noir/Bridgette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur | Mayura, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Comments: 14
Kudos: 81





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief history of Kwami-kind.

When the planet was created, there were two beings of power: Creation, better known as Tikki, and Destruction, or Plagg. They were two incredible beings, known for their development of the planet at its beginning. Tikki, a benevolent, kind being, took great care in their art, and felt endearment to each creation they made. Plagg, on the other hand, known for their mischievous, devilish, sarcastic behavior, set themself to be the opposite of the kind deity. Together, they created two halves of a whole.

For a while, Plagg only took watch upon Tikki, entertained by their many ideas and plans. The development of a tree was strange, and such strangeness blossomed Plagg’s insatiable curiosity. They’d give advice and critique to Tikki, and ask them multiple questions about what each form was meant to do. Tikki, in return, would respond to any… _sincere_ requests Plagg had for the creatures, and would kindly answer their questions.

However, Plagg came to a dark, painful realization about the planet. The planets could grow only so large in that time, and Tikki was creating more than could ever survive. Plagg therefore took the horrible responsibility upon themself to set a death-line for each and every life-form, no matter how much a certain god begged for them to not do so.

This lead Tikki to despair, feeling the pain of their creatures dying away daily. Eventually, due to their depression from seeing everything they made start to die, they stopped creating new plants and animals. However, they understood in the eras to come that Plagg had a point, as their next creation was infectious and evicting of their other pieces:

Mankind.

Mankind was quite possibly the _worst_ creation Tikki had ever made, but also the _best_. It was one that Plagg had given the most critiquing upon, immediately recognizing the possibilities that could come of such an inventive, adapting species. It could be said that mankind was the one creation that Tikki and Plagg completely made together.

Within a matter of a few millennia, mankind had begun to infect the Earth with it’s dangerous intoxication. The mass-slaughter of animals, leading to the permanent death of the Dodo Bird and Blue Buck ( _Tikki wept for what seemed like years, and the Earth was flooded for as long as Plagg couldn’t convince the being of the survival of many of their other creatures_ ). Several plants, gone away by consumption, and burning by man’s hands.

And yet, the things they could _create_! Buildings that seemed to touch the sky, tools to help productivity… comfortable, fluffy blankets that little deities could sneak into, if they so badly desired to do so. It was impressive, and despite the hardships that Tikki had gone through, they were pleased that humanity was at _least_ using the blessing of creation they had bestowed upon them. ( _Plagg was slightly annoyed for a bit… until the wars started, in which case they were kind of entertained in a sick way._ )

Throughout this time of creation and destruction, several other deities were born. Some, from the same time as Tikki and Plagg, simply lurking from behind the scenes ( _e.g. Fluff, the deity controlling Time, refused to interact with Tikki and Plagg unless they foresaw that a decision they were about to make would destroy the planet. This happened more times than expected_ ). Others, made by Tikki to assist in simple matters ( _e.g. Orikko, the god of Communication, brought about to help the many different animals on the planet to talk with their own species_ ). Even more so, many others created from the creatures down on Earth ( _e.g. Longg, the god of Power, arose from the destruction that was combat and war_ ).

Some of these gods also had balancing sides, such as the development of Wayzz and Nooroo--forever working together and against each other--and others were forever set to work alone, like Pollen, the god of Subordination.

And at one point, when all the deities had been born, Tikki and Plagg gathered them all together to speak of a project. One that would either cause great chaos… or great peace.

They called it the Miraculous Project.

Each god would go under the guise of a ‘Kwami’, a small being with immense power. No one would know they were immortal gods unless they were actually intelligent ( _which, of course, most people were, so they pretty much failed at that_ ). These beings would enable humans to harness their powers and help the planet, as well as humanity itself. These ‘Miraculous jewels’ would be adorned onto their body, whether on clothing or touching the person ( _it would work either way_ ), and with a signature catch-phrase created by the ‘Kwami’, they would be able to transform into a themed hero of the ‘Kwami’s appearance’.

However, the Miraculous Project is a long story, one for another time. That is not the story you came to hear, now is it?

No. The story you came to hear of is one of heroes. That, of Chat Noir and Ladybug.

But what if this story were to change? What if…

What if _there were two of each?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confusing Word Definitions:
> 
> Benevolent - characterized by or expressing goodwill or kindly feelings
> 
> Insatiable - incapable of being satisfied or appeased
> 
> Evict(ing) - to drive/force out
> 
> Intoxication - poisoning
> 
> Consumption - destruction/usage
> 
> Subordination - making dependent, secondary, etc
> 
> Guise - assumed appearance
> 
> Harness - use
> 
> Adorn(ed) - to decorate/put on
> 
> \---
> 
> Thank you for reading the prologue of my little story! Next chapter will be the introduction of our main characters, and should be released pretty soon, along with its second part!
> 
> If any grammatical errors are spotted, don't be afraid to let me know!
> 
> EDIT: Fixed it so that the kwamis' genders are ambiguous as I intended. No mistakes here!


	2. Stoneheart (Part One of Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Félix attend their first day at Collège Françoise Dupont, and so does Marinette and Bridgette.

_Septembre 2nd, 2018_

_6:30 AM_

Adrien let out a _whoop_ as he hopped out of bed. Félix, on the other hand, groaned and placed his head underneath his pillow in a miserable attempt to stay asleep. He only needed one glance at their alarm-clock to see that they still had a half-hour until it would go off.

Unfortunately, Félix wasn’t going to get that half-hour.

Adrien bounced on top of Félix’s bed, and Félix immediately shoved his pillow off his head. “Get _off,_ Adrien,” he hissed, glaring at him. Adrien’s green eyes ( _unlike Félix’s pale blue ones_ ) gazed at him in excitement. “Félix, Father is letting us go to public school! You have to get up!” Félix rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I understand that. What I don’t understand is why you’re up half an hour early.” Adrien shrugged, and Félix scoffed. “Look, Adrien, if you’re going to stay awake and get ready, go ahead, but I’m taking my last bit of sleep.” With that, he looked around for his pillow… which was on the floor a few feet away from him. His already-growing frown sunk even further, if that was possible.

Adrien gained a mischievous smirk, and said, “Well, Félix… can’t really sleep without a pillow, can you?” Félix glared at him.

“Don’t even think about it,” he warned. Adrien’s smirk grew even more. “Fine, I won’t think about it.” Before Félix could stop him, he had gotten off the bed, and yanked Félix’s blanket off. “Guess you’ll have to get up to get your bedding!”

If Adrien wasn’t Félix’s brother and a model, Félix would’ve punched him in his obnoxious face. Instead, he settled for kicking him from the bed--which Adrien easily avoided. “Fine, I’m getting up, Adrien,” he said through gritted teeth, shoving himself upwards. He winced a little as his bare feet touched the cold, wooden-style tile of their shared bedroom.

_So cold…_

\---

_7:14 AM_

Félix stood next to Adrien, buttoning up his grey vest in the mirror. “I still can’t believe he forced me to go to public school with you,” he stated flatly, raising a brow as he met Adrien’s gaze in the mirror.

Adrien smiled. “I’m sorry, Fé.”

“Last time I do anything nice for you against Father,” Félix half-joked. When Adrien feebly attempted to duke it out with Gabriel about going to school, Félix ( _irritably_ ) stepped in to help the poor kid get permission to go. Unfortunately, Gabriel decided that that meant Félix needed to attend as well to keep an eye on him. Félix tried to fight against him about that privately… and promptly lost. _“If you don’t go with Adrien, I refuse to let him go at all.”_ Félix’s mood soured even more after thinking about the whole reason he was up.

He turned to button up the white shirt Adrien had layered over a black one. However, Adrien stopped him. “Nope. I’m free--might as well take the chance to dress a little less nice! Like you should, Félix.” Adrien took in Félix’s gray and black pantsuit, frowning.

Félix gave him a confused look. “What? I’m not even wearing the matching jacket. You can see my sleeves, Adrien.” Adrien sighed.

“It’s a start?” Félix smiled slightly. _Yes… a new start, I guess._

\-----

_7:55 AM_

“I still can’t believe you existed for all these years, and I didn’t even know it,” Bridgette teased, nudging Marinette playfully.

Marinette was shocked herself when she discovered Bridgette: a twin she didn’t even realize she had had all along. Over the summer, Marinette’s Nonna had come to visit, bringing Bridgette along with her. From there, her parents introduced her as her twin sister, who had been living with her grandmother. They hadn’t explained _why_ , exactly, but that was a question Marinette would bring up again at another time.

Smiling at her, Marinette nodded. “Well, we’re together now, and I’m glad I’m getting to know you at last,” she responded, gently pulling half of Bridgette’s hair into a twin-tail. “We’ll be practically look-alikes for a bit, but once my hair grows out a little bit more, the bangs are going for good! No mistakes to be made, no sir!” Bridgette giggled.

“Thanks, Marinette.” Grinning, Marinette pulled the rest of Bridgette’s hair into a matching twin-tail. “Of course,” she said, tying it with a red hair-band. “We’re sisters!” They both looked giddy for a few seconds before they started squealing.

“We’re _sisters!_ ” Tom and Sabine popped their head through the hatch, and watched the girls beaming at each other with nostalgia reflecting in their eyes. Then, Tom yelled, “Marinette, Bridgette, you’re going to be late!” They turned to face him, and Marinette gasped.

“Oh no, not again!” Marinette panicked, looking in the mirror at her untidy, loose hair. Bridgette grinned. “Don’t worry, I can do it for you!” Marinette sighed in relief.

As Marinette sat there, she noticed an odd expression on Bridgette’s face as she brushed. “Hey, are you alright?” She asked. Bridgette jolted, as if in a daze.

Apologetically, she said, “Sorry, yeah, I’m, um, fine. Yeah.” Of course, Marinette didn’t buy this for a minute. “You can tell me, you know.”

Grabbing a red hair-band from Marinette’s vanity, Bridgette made a sad face. “Well, if I’m being honest… I miss my old friends. I went to school in Paris for a few years, and I had a group of friends there. They’re probably still together, if they’re still the same.” Though she couldn’t fully understand, Marinette could see where Bridgette was coming from. It’s hard to leave people that someone’s close to for a long time, and that was most likely the case with Bridgette going to Collège Françoise Dupont.

After Bridgette finished her hair, Marinette turned around to give her a hug. “Don’t worry, Bridgette. I’ll be your friend, and you’ll definitely make some new friends at school!” Bridgette looked a little surprised at first, but then smiled warmly.

“I hope so.”

_“Girls, you have to go to school! Tom has the macarons, Marinette!”_ Marinette’s eyes widened. “Oh no-- we’ve got to _go!_ ” She grabbed her backpack from her bed, and Bridgette picked up her large satchel and swung it over her shoulder.

\---

_8:02 AM_

“I thought Tom would never finish hugging me!” Bridgette huffed as she and Marinette stepped out the door. Marinette looked at her oddly. A sheepish smile fluttered onto Bridgette’s face. “Sorry, D-Dad. It’s, uh, still kind of-- _oh my God!_ ”

On the road was an elderly man, with a car heading right towards him. Bridgette shoved past Marinette and leapt towards him, pulling him out of harm’s way. She winced as she bounced onto the sidewalk, cradling the grandfatherly man. She stared at him. “Sir, you’ve got to be careful! If I hadn’t been there…” He smiled awkwardly.

“Sorry, young lady. Thank you so much for saving me, I hadn’t been paying attention…” She let out a tight chuckle. “Just… again, be more careful, sir.” She helped him stand up, and brushed some dirt off herself. The man reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out a black-and-red box, when Marinette whimpered, “Bridgette, the _macarons!_ I’m so clumsy...”

Bridgette looked back, and her eyes widened, spotting the broken green macarons scattered along the sidewalk. There went the easy way of making friends--giving away free food. Sighing, she smiled. “It’s alright, Marinette! I shouldn’t have pushed you out of the way like that.” Looking up and down the road, she walked back to the other side, unaware that the old man had slipped the box into her bag.

Panic glimmered in Marinette’s eyes. “Now we’re going to be late without food!” Stubbornness grew on Bridgette’s face, and she checked the box. _Ten macarons left,_ she counted. “No, we won’t. We have some macarons left, and I _refuse_ to let us be late on the first day! Come on, Marinette!” With that, the box of macarons was placed into Bridgette’s bag, and she grabbed Marinette’s arm, pulling her in the direction of the school.

\---

_8:10 AM_

Adrien stepped out of the car, and smiled at Gorilla, who looked at him without any expression. “Thanks, Gorilla! I’ll see you later!” He glanced back at the back-seat. “Come on _,_ Félix, you’ve _got_ to come out sooner or later!” Félix glared at him stonily.

“If I sit in here long enough, I won’t have to,” he retorted coolly, disliking the idea of going to school the longer he sat there. Adrien folded his arms in annoyance for a second, when he heard someone cry out, “ _My cane!_ ” He looked back to see an elderly man on the ground, reaching for a stick a little too far away from him. Adrien rushed over, panicked.

“Here, sir!” He grabbed the cane and helped the man up. Félix observed this with silent curiosity, his eyes narrowed. “Do you need help getting somewhere?” Adrien asked, concerned. The old man laughed.

“I can walk from here, young man, but thank you.” With a nod, Adrien turned to the limo. “ _Félix, come on!_ ” The elderly man carefully slipped a box into his bag… which did not escape Félix. He squinted. _What was--_

Adrien ran up the stairs. “Félix, if you don’t hurry up, you’ll have to explain to Father when we get home why you were _late_ on the first day!” Félix gasped. _Damnation!_ With that, he grumpily grabbed his leather-bag ( _similar to Adrien’s, except a little nicer_ ), and stepped out of the car. As Adrien walked through the door, Félix witnessed the old man _swing the cane over his shoulder, and **stand there.**_

Félix met his gaze, staring daggers at the elderly man. _He… faked it. Why?_ The man uncomfortably stood there, continuing to meet Félix’s gaze. He then shrugged, and walked away, the cane _still_ over his shoulder. _Old man indeed,_ Félix thought bitterly.

As Félix speed-walked to catch up with Adrien, thoughts plagued his mind as he thought of what could _possibly_ be in Adrien’s bag. He sighed. Adrien glanced back at him from the bottom of some stairs inside, smiling. “Well, Fe? Let’s go!” Félix forced a grimace--as close to a smile as he could get at the moment--onto his face, and followed him.

\---

_8:17 AM_

As Félix enters the room, he immediately notices several different things.

  1. There was another pair of twins. They looked incredibly similar, except for one having longer hair than the other. She was also wearing short-shorts, even though it would be better to wear pants with all the cold weather. Idiot.
  2. One of them, the shorter-haired one, was fighting with-- Oh, no. Chloé ‘brat’ Bourgeois was standing right there, jabbing her finger into the short twin’s face, yelling something about seats.
  3. Adrien was already inside and heading over to Chloé.
  4. _Adrien was already inside and heading over to Chloé._



Quickly, Félix walked over to Adrien. He grabbed his arm. “Don’t do it,” he hissed. “Chloé’s just gonna rope you into it.” Adrien frowned.

“Fe, she’s my friend--”

“We’ve gone over this. She’s just a brat in a place of power like you, and intends to mingle with people like her. She just… is attached.” Adrien rolled his eyes, and _completely ignored Félix._ Félix growled a little bit.

As Adrien tapped Chloé’s shoulder, she whirled around, prepared to tell him off, when her eyes widened. “ _Adrikins!_ ” she squealed, wrapping her arms around him. She peered over his shoulder at Félix, who gave her a short wave. “And your lesser brother, too,” she muttered. Félix smirked.

“Whatever you want to believe, Miss Bourgeois,” he responded, venom in every word.

He never truly liked Chloé. She was always so _needy_ of Adrien, and such a brat. Every time she didn’t get what she wanted, she would throw a tantrum and get “Daddy” to come and fix it for her. Gabriel made sure to drill into Félix when he was very young that if he ever wanted anything, he must either do it himself or be prepared to face a side-effect of working with others.

Perhaps him going to public school with Adrien was his side-effect.

Chloé stuck his tongue out at him, and she unwrapped herself from Adrien, like a snake. Her hands still rested on his shoulders, which made Félix very annoyed. “I was trying to get you these seats here, Adrikins, but this rude Dupain-Cheng decided to sit here! And her friend--”

“Actually,” the long-haired twin interrupted, smiling uncomfortably, “I’m Marinette’s sister.”

Chloé groaned loudly. “ _Ugh,_ not _another_ one!” The short-haired girl--assumedly Marinette--glared at Chloé, fuming. “Just get over it, Chloé. Bridgette, I need you to hold my seat so _Chloé_ doesn’t take it. I’ll be right back.” With that, she got up and left the room, Bridgette sitting in the wake of the war-zone.

The hot stare that Chloé gave Bridgette probably could’ve melted steel, and yet the girl was completely unphased. “Sorry, Chloé, was it? I’m Bridgette,” she said, holding her hand out. Chloé crossed her arms and raised her nose, sniffing.

“I don’t shake hands with _peasants._ ” Bridgette’s hand faltered a little, and then a truly mischievous expression came on her phase. She abruptly jumped out of her seat, and _hugged Chloé._ Chloé immediately let out a shriek.

“Well, maybe you’d give them a hug instead?” She said, smiling only a little too widely.

“ _No! I don’t! Touch! **Peasants!**_ ” Chloé screeched, shoving Bridgette off. The corner of Félix’s mouth raised, entertained by Chloé’s personal torture. Bridgette laughed, along with a couple other members of the class.

Bridgette gave her a pitying look. “That’s a shame, considering you’re stuck in a room of these so-called ‘peasants’,” she said, making quotation marks with her fingers. “So I guess you better get used to it!” She smiled. She then proceeded to make her way around the room, saying hi to everyone.

...Interesting.

Adrien had sat down with a boy wearing a red hat, who had immediately started conversing with him. It was kind of… discomforting, knowing that he didn’t have Adrien to hang out with. A finger tapped Félix on the shoulder, and he turned around to see Bridgette grinning up at him.

“Hi! I’m Bridgette!” She raised her hand for him to shake, and he stared at it. Then, he took it.

As entertaining as the girl was, she still was kind of obnoxiously cheerful. His face quickly became cold as he stared at her. “I am Félix.” She faltered for a second, then _instantly_ popped back up, her smile _somehow_ even brighter than before. “Nice to meet ya’, Félix!”

He let out a little scoff, as he moved to the empty seat in the back of the room. _No need to get to know these people. All I need to do is do well in class._ He set his book-bag down, and Adrien looked back at him, startled. Félix nodded at him, however, and Adrien turned back around slowly. _You don’t have to sit with me._

He then watched as Chloé started to place gum onto the chair that Bridgette’s twin was going to sit on. Of _course._ Adrien stood up. “Chloé, what are you doing?”

She rolled her eyes. “Teaching Dupain-Cheng a lesson.” She pulled out a second piece. “ _Both_ of them.” A second passed, and Bridgette walked over, fire burning in her eyes.

“Excuse me,” she said, glaring at the blonde-haired brat, “But I think you left something on my sister and I’s chairs.” Chloé simpered at her gaze, scoffing.

“Oh, please. That piece of gum was _obviously_ there before.” Bridgette looked at her incredulously.

“I literally _saw_ you put it on there.” While they continued arguing, Adrien carefully creeped over to the girls’ chairs, trying to pull off the gum.

It was then, of course, that Marinette decided to burst into the room. The image she saw was not good, and Félix realized that Adrien might end up with a fist in his mouth if he didn’t approach this correctly. He stood up, ready to come to his aid.

“ _Really?_ Actually, of course--you’re friends with Chloé. _Of course_ you’d put gum on my chair,” The blue-bell shouted, gesturing at the chair with a bright-yellow piece of gum on it. Adrien’s eyes widened.

“No, I don’t think you understand, I was trying to get it--”

“ _Likely story._ ” She jabbed her finger into his chest. “Back. _Off._ ” Félix immediately walked over.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, I would advise you to do the same,” he said, glaring at her. “Otherwise, you may have other problems than some chewed-up gum from Miss Bourgeois.” She looked like she was about to explode with frustration. “And for your information, since you would not listen to my brother, he was attempting to _remove_ _it_ from your seat.” With that, Félix walked away, leaving the girl clenching her jaw behind him.

What a fantastic start to the school year.

\---

Marinette bitterly sat down next to Bridgette, having cleaned off both chairs. “I can’t believe Chloé has _another_ partner in crime,” she ranted, her hands curling into fists.

Bridgette sighed. “Marinette, I don’t think you were listening. Félix was saying--”

“Félix? Good, a name I can curse at night,” she thought out loud to herself, groaning. “Add that one to the list--”

“ _Marinette,_ listen to me,” Bridgette pleaded, her eyes glimmering with faint irritation. “I’m trying to tell you that Félix is right. Adrien didn’t place the gum on there, and Chloé was just being a jerk. Is that a normal thing, by the way? Intentionally being a jerk?” Marinette nods. “Good grief.”

Marinette sighs. “Sorry, Bridgette. I know you’re probably right, I just… _ergh._ ” A girl sitting in front of them wearing a gingham shirt turned around. Empathy was detailed in every inch of her face.

“Believe me, I’m new here too, and I can already tell that Chloé’s a jerk. A real bad guy, just like in my comics!” She pulled out a comic from her bag, showing a pixie-haired woman in a blue-and-red costume. “She’s like an enemy that Majestia would fight outside of the suit! By the way, you both seem pretty awesome!” The twins smiled.

“Thanks! What’s your name?” Marinette asked, smiling.

“The name’s Alya.”

“Marinette.”

“And I’m Bridgette!” Alya chuckled.

“You already told me that, girl!” Bridgette smiled. Then, she turned to Marinette, a sly look in her eyes. “Marinette, you should sit with Alya!” Confusion sparked in Marinette’s face.

“But Bridgette, don’t you want me to sit with you?” Bridgette winked.

“Yeah, of _course_ I would, but you see me all the time! Make some friends!” Bridgette ignored Marinette’s mumble of _"But I do have friends…"_ as she shoved her out of her seat.

Marinette stumbled as she came to the seat next to Alya, and Alya carefully pulled her into the seat next to her. “Thanks, Bridge!” Bridgette smiled.

“Of course!”

\---

Several hours later, yet another fight breaks out.

Ivan, an emo-looking kid, prepared to punch Lê Chiến Kim, a boy that thinks he’s buff and cool.

A few different people jumped up at that moment. Marinette and Bridgette both jumped up to try and stop the fight, and Ms. Caline got up to tell Ivan to go to the principal’s office.

Then, the day ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins. If any grammatical or spelling errors are spotted, don't be afraid to let me know! Also, comments are welcome!


	3. Stoneheart (Part Two of Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ivan gets akumatized, and two heroes are put in action.

_Septembre 2nd, 2018_

_4:45 PM_

Marinette sighed as she walked with Bridgette. “Wow, I really thought Ivan was going to punch Kim for a second there.” Bridgette shrugged.

“I don’t know, Marinette.” Bridgette didn’t know the kids well enough to know whether they would do something or not do something. “Maybe he would’ve.”

Marinette groaned. “That’s the thing, I _don’t know!_ He might have, he might not have!” She placed her face into her hands. “I don’t know, Bridgette…”

Sighing, Bridgette placed a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “Well, that’s not a problem. Especially since we’ve got homework to do, now that we’re _home!_ ” Marinette looked up to see that they had managed to walk all the way to the bakery, and she hadn’t even realized it.

As they entered inside the bakery, Tom and Sabine came out from behind the counter to give them flour-covered hugs. “Welcome home, sweethearts!” Tom said, beaming. “We just finished some madeleines, if you would like to take some up to snack on!” The little cakes sat on the counter behind the register, looking incredibly delicious.

“Yes, _please,_ Dad!” Marinette exclaimed, rushing over. “Thank you!” She grabbed a few to take upstairs, and she and Bridgette headed up to their bedroom.

Bridgette sighed. “Well, first day down,” she stated flatly, slumping against a chair upstairs. She opened her bag. “Um, Marinette?”

Marinette put the small plate of madeleines down onto her desk, and turned to face Bridgette, who was holding a box in her hands. “What’s that?”

Bridgette gestured for her to come over, and Marinette sat next to her. “I’m not sure, but I don’t want to open it without you,” Bridgette explained. With that, she took the top of the box, and flipped it open. A blinding pink light sparkled out from it, and a loud _“Whee!_ ” came with it. Marinette and Bridgette flinched, closing their eyes in reflex.

When they opened them, a red-and-black-spotted creature floated in front of them, their big blue eyes intensely gazing at them. “Hello! My name is Tikki--”

“ _Aaaahhh!_ It’s a _bug!_ ” Marinette screeched. “ _Talking! Bug! Bridgetteeeeee!_ ” As Marinette climbed on top of her chair, Tikki and Bridgette stared at each other.

“Tikki?” Bridgette asked, curious. Tikki nodded, smiling.

“You must be Bridgette! And your sister Marinette?” Bridgette grinned.

“Yup!” They smiled at each other, while Marinette slowly crawled back down to Bridgette. “Uh, Bridgette?” Marinette said. “It _talks._ ”

Tikki giggled. “Yup! I can talk! I’m a kwami, and I can give the wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous magical powers! I can transform you into a hero!” Bridgette’s eyes widened. _A hero?_ “Bridgette, these earrings were meant for you, so go ahead and put them on.” The long-haired girl looked at her twin questioningly, and she shrugged, still slightly distressed.

“It’s up to you.”

With that simple phrase, Bridgette took the two earrings out of the box, which were colored like ladybug spots. She carefully clasped them into her ears, and moved to the mirror. “Huh, they look... different?” They were now black studs.

Tikki floated up next to her face. “The Miraculous will disguise themselves to conceal the identities of their users. It’s a safety precaution, mostly. Also, there are a few things you must know before you transform.

“The first thing is that you have a super-power that you can use called ‘Lucky Charm’. To use it, call it’s name out, and you will be given an item that will help you in that moment. You will have to figure it out yourself though, and you only have _five minutes_ after calling for it before you transform.

“The second thing is that you have another super-power: ‘Miraculous Ladybug’. After fighting an enemy, you can call that out to reverse any damage done to anything or anyone. However, this isn’t always a miracle worker, and you need to keep that in mind. If someone dies, you _cannot bring them back._ ” Bridgette’s eyes widened as she nodded.

“Oh! And one more thing: if the situation is what I think it is, you _must_ break the akumatized item and capture the akuma inside of it!” Bridgette looked confused.

“What-a-tized? Akuma? _Capture????_ ” Tikki sighs.

“There is a chance that the reason monsters are showing up are due to the misuse of a Miraculous like yours, and the way they are created is by an akuma going into an object touched by the person before they are akumatized. They then make a deal with the enemy, and become a magical enemy. So, you have to capture that item, break it, and then grab it with your yo-yo. Then, it’ll be purified.” Bridgette, kind of confused, nods.

“If you have any more questions after transforming, you have a help manual inside of the yo-yo you will be equipped with. Now, if you would like to transform, say ‘Tikki, transform me’!” Bridgette smiled.

“Alright, I guess I’m doing this! Tikki, transform me!” The kwami was abruptly sucked into the earrings, and Marinette watched in wonder as her sister transformed into a masked heroine.

A red mask with black spots stretched across her face, while black kohl covered the inside of the eye-holes. A red, turtle-neck skin-tight body-suit clung to her skin. It was red-and-black-spotted to her hips and beneath her shoulders, where it transformed into black armor. Some red-spots were below her elbow and her knee. Meanwhile, her hair-bands expanded into long red ribbons that reached her knees. Around her waist, a yo-yo rested on a belt.

“... _Whoa._ ” Bridgette looked over herself in the mirror, amazed. Marinette grinned toothily, raising her hands to her mouth in surprise. “I’m a superhero!”

\---

“I’m going to go the bathroom. I think Ms. Mendeleiev gave some work today, so if you want to start without me, you can.” With that, Félix left Adrien in the bedroom alone.

Well, at least, that’s what Félix _wanted_ Adrien to believe. The truth was, after Félix had closed the door, he was listening right outside of it, curious to see if Adrien would find the box that the old man had placed in his bag.

Sure enough, Adrien ( _though his voice was muffled_ ) said, “Hey, where’d this come from?” Félix then saw a lime-green flash from underneath his door, and felt the urge to slam it open. Instead, he settled for opening it a crack so he could see.

An odd, black-cat-like creature flew in the air in front of Adrien, who had an excited look on his face. “Hey, kid. Got any cheese?” Adrien gasped.

“You can _talk!_ ” The creature rolled it’s eyes.

“Yeah, so can you. _Well_ , kid?” Adrien then squealed, and it took all Félix’s will-power to not burst out laughing right then and there. “Kid, I know I’m kinda weird and all, but I’m _hungry._ ”

“Are you a genie?”

The creature groaned. “Do I _look_ like--no, I’m not a freaking djinn. I’m a kwami, a miniature god here to make you a bad-ass cat-themed hero.”

“Like _Cat-Woman?_ ”

“Uh, no. Maybe if Cat-Woman was a hero, male like you, and was filled with magic from a _god_? But nope. No dice.” The creature rolled its eyes. “I’m Plagg.”

“I’m Adrien! It’s nice to meet you, Plagg!” Plagg smirked.

“Now, now, kid, you’re saying that now but you _might_ not mean that in the future,” the kwami teased, his tail twitching. “Now, to transform, you just say ‘Plagg, transform me’--”

“Plagg, transform me!”

The kwami’s eyes grew wider as he was sucked into a ring. “But I didn’t e _ven finishhh…_ ” Félix watched as Adrien transformed, and his steely-blue eyes grew wider in amazement.

Then, he snorted.

_He’s such a damn weeb,_ he thought, fighting every single urge he had to keep himself from laughing… _too_ loudly.

Adrien, after transforming, had become a cat-themed _anime-style_ hero.

Black fabric ears sprouted from his longer hair, which covered his ears. A black body-suit with boots covered his body, along with gloves mimicking a cat’s claws. A black mask covered his eyes, and made them look like a cat’s. His whites were replaced by a vivid green, and his pupil was now narrow in a vertical direction, like a cat. But the worst part?

_He had a belt-tail and a bell-zipper._

Félix went to the shower, and started laugh-crying.

Then, he heard it.

\---

The loud _boom._

Bridgette looked out her window. “Marinette, there, uh, sounds like there’s… trouble.” Marinette raised a brow.

“Well, guess a superhero will have to go handle it.” Bridgette glared at her for a few seconds, then sighed. “Are you sure you want to do this, Bridgette?”

Bridgette shrugged as she opened the trap-door to the balcony. “I’m gonna find out either way,” she stated, as she took her yo-yo out. “Well, wish me luck, Marinette!”

“ _Wait!_ ” Before Bridgette could run off, Marinette grabbed her arm. Bridgette looked back curiously.

“You need a hero name.”

\---

“I think I’ll call myself Chat Noir!” Adrien declared to himself excitedly as he opened his window. “Yeah, Chat Noir, the amazing hero! _Dun-dun!_ ” He then hopped out, and using his baton, he began to jump around Paris.

“ _This is so amazing!_ ”

\---

“I don’t feel like a Ladybug… Maybe Lady Luck?” Marinette shrugged.

“Sure, Lady Luck. Now, go save Paris! You’ve _got_ this!” Lady Luck sighed, a tired smile on her face.

“Alright, here I go _auhhh!_ ” Her yo-yo, which she had flicked out, yanked her forward, and Marinette watched as her twin went flying through the air, screaming.

Oh no.

\---

“ _Just one little chat, ooh! One little chat, walking on a pole, waiting for an enemy…_ ” Chat Noir made up a tune on the spot, walking on the pole carefully. Then, a scream came towards him. Getting slowly louder. As he turned to face it, he continued, “ _Hearing someone cominggggg~_ ” Then, a red-and-black body _slammed_ into him and knocked him off his baton.

Some sort of thing tied them together to the baton, and after a few seconds, he opened one eye to see a groaning girl in a red mask. “Oh, gosh…” He gave a smile.

“Hi!” She looked at him after a few seconds of her eyes closed, and she gaped.

“Oh _gosh,_ I am _so_ sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you, and this is bad, oh my goodness, okay… um… sorry…?”

“Chat Noir,” he introduced himself, grinning. “I’d love to know your name, but I’m kind of _tied up_ at the moment.” She laughed.

“My bad, sorry.” With that, the string suddenly came loose, and they fell to the pavement below.

As Chat Noir brushed himself off, he held his arm out to the girl in case she needed help getting up. She grabbed it, and he pulled her up. “And what might your name be?” He asked. She stood there for a few seconds.

“Uh… Lady Luu _uook out!_ ” She pulled him down as a chunk of gravel was thrown at their heads. He looked at her, amazed, while she stared forward in determination. “It’s Lady Luck, but that’s not important right now. Right now,” she stated, pointing forward, “We need to beat that enemy!”

That enemy, as Chat Noir saw, was a huge rock-beast, with glowing green eyes. “ _KIIIIMMMM!_ ” It yelled, slamming a car to the side. Lady Luck’s eyes widened. “I know who the akuma is,” she says, her mouth gaping.

“I’m glad you know whatever the hakuna matata is, but what does that have to do with this?” Chat said, frowning.

“It’s called an akuma. It enters into an object in physical contact with a person, and it makes a bond with them and a different person, who gives them powers and transforms them into… that. I _think_.” She squints. “That’s... just a _kid!_ ”

Chat frowned. “A kid?” To be honest, the akuma didn’t look like one.

“Yeah, I saw him walk out of Collège Françoise Dupont. You know where--”

“Oh, yeah! I know that school!”

She sighs. “Well, if you spot anything out of the ordinary, let me know.”

Chat points at different places. “Civilians standing around.” In fact, they were civilians he recognized! Marinette, Ada( _? He can’t recall what her name was_ ), and… _Félix?_ He frowns. “I’ll take care of the blue-haired girl and the boy--aaaaand she’s already gone,” he groaned.

\---

Lady Luck stealthily swung over to where Félix was standing, watching like an idiot. “It’s not safe for you to be here,” she stated. “You need to get somewhere safe.” Félix looked up at her, his eyes widened.

“....What?” She resisted the urge to groan.

“It’s not _safe._ You need to go somewhere safe, _now._ ” Félix blinked. Sighing, she picked him up and swung him over one of her shoulders, and almost immediately, he _started freaking out._

“Wait, _what?_ ” She sighed.

\---

Chat Noir was almost entertained by her handling of his brother, but there were still two more civilians to help out. He began to run over to them-- and then the akuma swung a large, rocky arm into him. He heard someone cry out as he bounced against a wall, and he looked up at the rock-beast. “You want some of this, huh?” He snarled. _If I can’t get over to them… I’ve got to get the akuma away from them._ “Come and _get it!_ ”

He could think of one place that no _one_ would be in: the stadium. There, he could have enough space to fight him. “I hope Lady can figure out where we are.” With that, he proceeded to leap away from the akuma, and smirked from a little farther down the road, opposite from where the girls were. “Over here, you big stinky man!”

_Oh, it did_ not _like that,_ he thought, as it began to charge at him.

\---

Marinette frantically said to Alya, “You have to get out of here! It’s not safe for us here!” Alya looked back at her, a smirk on her face and her brow raised.

“If it’s not safe here, then why did _you_ come here?” Marinette winced. Shoot, she got her.

“W-well, uh--”

“Exxxxactly. So let’s go!” With that, Alya kept running _after the akuma_ , with her phone raised and recording in her left hand. Marinette groaned. Obviously, if she left Alya alone, she would end up getting hurt, but if she went with her…

“Bridgette’s going to have my head for this,” she muttered, as she ran after Alya.

\---

Lady Luck leapt into the park with Félix, and gently set him down. “You do realize it’s not safe to be around monsters that are throwing cars, right?” She asked, raising a masked brow.

Félix scoffed. “Of course I do.”

“Oh, good. Just wanted to make sure you were aware, since you obviously weren’t paying enough attention at the time to recognize that there was one nearby,” Lady Luck snarked.

“What? A monster throwing _cars?_ Not in my Paris,” Félix gasped.

“Shocking, I know. Well, stay safe. And don’t go chasing after monsters that are dangerous, alright?” Lady Luck winked at him, and threw her yo-yo into the air. “Adieu, monsieur!”

As Félix watched Lady Luck soar away into the air, he sighed. “I don’t know who that girl is underneath that mask, but she is one interesting girl.

“Oh, and there is no way I’m going to avoid that monster. I’m going back in that direction.” With that, he started running back the way Lady Luck had come.

\---

“Lady Luck, I don’t know where you went, but I could _really_ use some help right now!” Chat Noir called out, struggling to get out of the akuma’s grip.

At one point, the akuma had managed to grab hold of him, and Chat Noir ( _at the time_ ) thought he could escape easily. Well, he was absolutely incorrect, and now he was stuck in his fist. Completely helpless, and currently a terrible hero.

A faint flash of red showed in his peripheral vision, and his eyes widened. _She’s back!_ “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, akuma?” Lady Luck called out, twirling her yo-yo in her hand. “Someone who is a little more… more.”

“Ouch, Lucky,” Chat Noir mourned. “That hurt.”

“Just telling the truth, Chat Noir,” she said, slightly chuckling. He rolled his eyes.

“Truth or not, can you _please_ get me out of here?!” Fortunately, he had gotten the akuma into an open space-- a football field, to be exact-- so at least they had _that_ going for them.

Lady Luck nodded. She then threw her yo-yo into the air, whirring and spinning. “ _Lucky Charm!_ ”

A wet-suit popped out of the air into her hands. Chat Noir frowned. “Um, I don’t think that’ll help much on land.” Lady Luck shot him an annoyed glance.

“That’s because I have to use it in a different way—” The rock monster suddenly threw Chat Noir at her, and she squeaked as he slammed into her, knocking her outside of the field.

She quickly grabbed onto Chat Noir’s waist, and snapped her yo-yo into the air. It grabbed onto the ledge that she had been standing on a few seconds ago, and Chat Noir felt the both of them fly back the way they had come. He gave her an appreciative glance, but her eyes were on the suit.

Then, on the monster.

Then… on two civilians.

“Oh my God, _what are they doing in here,_ ” Lady Luck half-whispered, her eyes reflecting her anxious tone. She then shook her head. “I’ll talk to them afterwards,” she thought out loud, turning to face Chat Noir.

“Chat Noir, do you trust me?” He tilted his head to the side.

“I’ve only known you for a few minutes, but sure, m’Lady Luck,” he said, spinning his baton casually. She then smiled, and he immediately realized that this wasn’t a trust fall exercise.

At least, not exactly.

As she picked him up, he shouted, “I can tell you only trust me as far as you can _throw meeee!_ ” He shut his eyes tight as he soared through the air, until he was grabbed by the akuma. He looked at Lady Luck with an incredulous gaze, only to notice that she had jumped over to where the two female civilians stood.

He felt his eyes bug a little as the rock monster squeezed him tightly. “Lady Luck, _I hope you have a good plan!_ ” He howled.

She then jumped towards the rock monster herself, clutching the wet suit. _And was captured._ Chat Noir’s jaw dropped. “ _Are you insane?!_ ”

Lady Luck met his eyes for a second with a confident grin. She then twisted over her shoulder and yelled, “ _Alya, now!_ ”

A few seconds, and the monster’s hand was forced open, releasing the spotted heroine. She then grabbed something off the ground ( _a rock?_ ), and broke it.

Within a matter of seconds, the monster had vanished, releasing Chat Noir to the ground, and leaving a very confused Ivan in its place. Lady Luck stared at the black butterfly that flew into the sky. “I feel like I’m forgetting something,” she muttered. She shrugged, though, and unfolded the paper in her hands that Ivan had been holding.

_“You haven’t even got the guts to tell Mylène you love her, wuss._ ” She frowned.

“Kim wrote it,” Ivan stated quietly. “He’s always making fun of me.” Lady Luck turned to face him, a soft expression on her face.

Bending down, she took one of Ivan’s hands in hers. “Hey, Ivan?” His eyes widened.

“How do you know my name?” She shook her head.

“Not important. What is important is that you know there’s no shame in telling someone that you love them, okay?” She smiled. “If you truly care about someone, you should go for it!” Ivan nodded, grinning.

“Thanks, lady!” With that, he left her behind, leaving the stadium.

Neither Lady Luck nor Chat Noir expected to see a fuming blonde storm up to them, jamming a finger into Lady Luck’s face. “Um, what were you _thinking?_ ” he snapped, glaring into the girl’s startled blue eyes.

“What do you mean?” She said rather quickly, anxious.

“I mean _your plan,_ ” Félix seethed. “What if one of the girls had gotten targeted by that… that _thing?_ What if Chat Noir had gotten injured, or—or _killed_ because you decided to launch him at the monster like he was some sort of _dart?_ ” Lady Luck frowned.

“I—”

“ _Are you sure you can do this if you’re going to put other people’s lives in danger?_ ” Her eyes widened, hurt.

It was that moment that Chat Noir stormed in front of her, glaring at his brother. “Hey. Back off. She only just got into the hero business, so give her a break,” he hissed. “And keep in mind that the civilians were at a safe distance, and I’m _also_ a hero, so I’m safer than anyone else except maybe _her_.”

A suit-covered hand gently touched Chat Noir’s shoulder. “It’s fine,” Lady Luck said. Her voice was shaky. “It’s… he’s right. I, I’m probably—”

“ _Ladybug! Ladybug, over here!_ ” Ada waved her hand as she ran over, clutching her phone in her other hand. “Alya Césaire, ( _so_ that’s _what her name was_ ) aspiring reporter. May I just say that you were uncanny—no, amazing—no, _spectacular!_ I have a few questions. First off, are you gonna be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Did you get stung by a radioactive Ladybug? Oh, I’ve got so many questions, Ladybug!” Lady Luck’s eyes widened.

“Uh, yeah! Bye!” With that, she flew away with her yo-yo, leaving Chat Noir, Alya, Félix, and Marinette behind.

Chat Noir smiled at the three civilians. “Hi! I’m Chat Noir! And I can affirm to the first question that not only is _she_ protecting Paris, but I will gladly fight for all Parisians! Nice to meet you all!” His eyes wavered on Félix for a second before he used his baton to swing away.

\---

As Bridgette landed on the balcony of the bakery, she uttered the words “Tikki, detransform me”. The tiny god flew in front of Bridgette, grinning widely. “You did it, Bridgette! You defeated the akuma!” Tikki’s smile dropped a little after seeing Bridgette sit down, hugging her legs. “Bridgette?”

Bridgette stared at her knees for a few seconds, biting her bottom lip. “Félix was right, you know.” She continued avoiding the kwami’s gaze, hugging her legs even harder. “I technically put Marinette, Alya, _and_ Chat Noir in danger. If my plan hadn’t worked, they could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”

Tikki sighed. “But Bridgette, it _did_ work!”

“Only because of luck. I didn’t even tell Chat Noir what my plan was, or what was happening,” she whispered. “If one thing had gone wrong, Chat Noir wouldn’t have known what to do.”

A knock came at the trap-door. “ _Bridgette, it’s me,_ ” Marinette called up.

A few seconds later, Marinette was sitting next to her, her arms wrapped around her. “You did so good out there,” Marinette said warmly, squeezing her gently. “I’m so proud of you. And look!” Marinette pulled out her phone, and unlocked it to a news app. “You’re in the news!”

Nadja Chamack, a news reporter, popped up in a video. “ _Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! I’m Nadja Chamack, and I have some_ incredible _news for all of Paris’ citizens today! As you may or may not have witnessed, a strange rock monster was attacking the streets of Paris this afternoon. However, two superheroes had stepped up to fight this menace: Ladybug and Chat Noir! Here is some amateur footage from an Alya Césaire of the two in action, fighting against this enemy!_ ”

As the video Alya had taken played, Bridgette frowned. “Ladybug. They called me Ladybug.”

Marinette winced. “Yeah. Alya kept calling you that.” Bridgette groaned.

“I guess that can’t be helped.” Sighing, Bridgette gave Marinette a small smile. “Let’s head downstairs, shall we?”

\---

“What were you _thinking?_ ” Adrien scolded, glaring at Félix. “You could’ve gotten seriously hurt!” Félix rolled his eyes.

“Please. The only reason I would’ve gotten hurt would’ve been because of that inexperienced heroine, Ladybug.” Adrien’s eyes narrowed. Normally, Félix wouldn’t poke the bear more than once, but since Félix wasn’t supposed to know it was the same bear, he would have to do so in this case. Plus, he honestly wasn’t happy with how the girl had handled the situation.

“Well, Félix, I think she did a pretty damn good job, considering she was the only one available,” Adrien snapped, folding his arms.

“Don’t frown, Adrien, you’ll get wrinkles,” Félix said sarcastically.

“I’m being serious, Fé. If she and Chat Noir hadn’t shown up, who knows who would’ve gotten hurt? And besides, it was their first time—you can’t expect them to be experts the first time out.”

“ _Bad news has just come in for Paris._ ” Félix raised a brow at Adrien as he turned to face the TV, where Nadja Chamack had come back on.

\---

“ _Just as Paris is about to celebrate the appearance of our two superheroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir, a new wave of panic is sweeping across the capital as adozens of people are being mysteriously transformed into stone monsters. It’s simply unbelievable._ ” Bridgette’s breath caught as she heard the alert.

“Oh my God,” she whispered.

“ _These victims transformed into stone beings are still like statues. The police are perplexed as to what will happen to them. Will they come to life or be frozen in time forever?_ ” Bridgette bit her hand out of stress, tears pooling her eyes. “Oh my God, this is all my fault,” Bridgette sobbed, staring at the computer screen that bore the bad news. “Oh my _God…_ ”

Marinette frowned. “No, you can’t blame yourself for this.” Her eyes widened as Bridgette started reaching for her ear lobes. “ _Hey, wait! What are you doing?!_ ” Bridgette looked at her with tear-stained cheeks, revealing the fear in her gaze.

“I c-can’t do th-th-this,” she hiccupped, as she took one of them off. “I _c-c-can’tttttt._ ” Tikki vanished from the room, and Marinette was thrust the pair of earrings. “Y- _you be L-Lady-b-bug._ ” Marinette looked at the earrings for a few seconds, before looking back at the red-faced Bridgette.

She walked over to the desk, and paused the live-feed, as well as muted it. Pulling out the box from where they had placed it on the vanity, she put the earrings back in. She then grabbed a box of tissues, and brought it over to Bridgette, who took them in pairs. “You can, you know,” Marinette said quietly, holding the box in front of her.

“W-wh-what?”

“I said, you can. Maybe you can’t be Ladybug, but that’s because you’re not,” Marinette explained. “You’re Lady _Luck_. You’re you. And just because _this—_ ” She pointed at the computer screen. “—happened, doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean it will happen every time, and it doesn’t mean that it can’t be fixed. It just means that it happened.” She held the earring box out to Bridgette, who sniffled a little. “So either you put these earrings back on and be the hero I _know_ you can be, or those people will remain in stone forever.”

Bridgette stared at the box quietly. Then, she took it.

A few seconds later, the earrings were back in, and Tikki reappeared.

“It’s called ‘purification’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got hit by the train called inspiration, and finished writing the second part. Hope y'all enjoy a double update!
> 
> ALSO -- Bridgette's suit looks like this image: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/lady-bug/images/4/4d/Ladybug_PV_Outfit_Design_by_Astruc_1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20161019220931


	4. Stoneheart (Part Three of Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes of Paris are here to stop Ivan's akumatized form once again!

_Septembre 2 nd, 2018_

_24:36 AM_

Bridgette stared at the kwami. “So. Purification. How does that work?”

Tikki smiled. “Do you remember how you broke open that object Ivan was holding, and a black butterfly came out?” Bridgette nodded eagerly. “Well, that black butterfly is called an akuma. It’s sent out by the Butterfly Miraculous, and normally is used to create heroes. However, whoever is using it is using it to create supervillains.” The little deity scowled. “As the wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous, we are the only ones able to ‘purify’ these akumas.

“At the end of your last battle, the akuma managed to escape without purification. You know all those stone monsters around Paris? That’s how an akuma looks when it has gone unchecked, and manages to _multiply._ This is why it’s _very_ important that you make sure to purify the akuma after each battle.” Tikki blinked, shifting from her suddenly serious mood. “To purify an akuma, simply use your yo-yo to capture it inside, and the akuma will go back to being a regular butterfly. You can then release it.”

Bridgette’s eyes were wide. This was a lot of information to take in. Plus, it stung a little that Tikki basically confirmed her suspicions about the monsters being her fault. However, seeing Marinette sitting there and smiling… trusting that she would fix everything… she knew that she wouldn’t be able to give up.

Marinette yawned. Stretching her arms, she loudly proclaimed, “Well, I think this can wait until tomorrow. It’s almost one, and I don’t think those civilians are going anywhere.” Bridgette winced a little. Marinette got up from the chaise where she had been sitting, and hugged Bridgette, kissing her on both her cheeks. “Good night, Bridgette. I love you. Good night, Tikki.”

With that, Marinette climbed up to the bed she shared with Bridgette. Bridgette remained down below with Tikki, the two looking at each other.

Gears were spinning in Bridgette’s head. It bothered her that so many people had been put in danger due to her inaction, and Félix’s words were hitting close to home. While hurtful, she kind of… _appreciated_ his honesty. Hopefully, it would help her do better tomorrow.

A small arm touched her hand, and she looked into Tikki’s blue eyes. “You need to rest, Bridgette.” She nodded.

Lady Luck’s problems would just have to wait until tomorrow.

\---

_3:26 AM_

The glow of the computer screen illuminated Félix’s face as he searched online. Adrien laid in bed, snoring away. Plagg was nowhere to be seen, but Félix wasn’t supposed to worry about him anyways.

By the time morning would come, hopefully Félix would know more about this ‘Ladybug’.

\---

_Septembre 3 rd, 2018_

_6:33 AM_

When Adrien woke up, he immediately noticed the absence of his twin sibling. “Félix?” he called out, worried. Then, he heard a groan.

Adrien turned to the other side of his bed to see Félix sleeping at the computer. The screens were dark. “Félix? What are you doing over there?” He whispered to himself. He took note of the fact that Félix had never changed into his pajamas—that was an odd occurrence that Adrien never thought he would witness.

Maybe with the akuma and everything, he had a hard time falling asleep. In that case, Adrien decided he was going to let him sleep a little longer.

Sleeping Beauty could have some more time.

\---

_7:03 AM_

Félix could feel someone pushing him. And he didn’t like it.

“… _ix, wake_ up!” Grumbling, he opened one eye to see Adrien staring at him, showered and dressed. Questions immediately sprung into his head. _Why didn’t Adrien wake me up? What time is it? What day is it? Did I fall asleep?Why aren’t I wearing pajamas?_ He slowly pushed himself upwards with his right arm, as he promptly discovered his left one was asleep from sleeping on it.

Adrien gazed at him with concern. “Félix, are you alright?” Félix released a large yawn before he answered.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Adrien didn’t say anything—just simply raised a brow. Félix didn’t really want to answer any questions this morning, _especially_ if it was about him falling asleep by the computer.

To be honest, Félix didn’t feel like doing _anything._ He was just… tired. There was a reason he rarely stayed up too late. Unlike most Parisians, he preferred going to bed around eight. As he stepped into the bathroom to shower, he felt an unearthly presence observing him. He whipped around, but whatever was watching him had disappeared.

_I know you’re there, little god._

\---

_7:45 AM_

“ _The stone beings are scattered all over Paris, and for the time being, they are showing no signs of movement. Police have cordoned off the area._ ”

Bridgette watched the TV as she ate her cereal, tense. She had had a hard time falling asleep, but once she did, her dreams were plagued with civilians being entrapped by the akumas. Fortunately, that meant it was simple enough for her to wake up early and get ready.

Her hand gently touched her earrings. _Tikki, I sincerely hope I’m up to this,_ she thought, a deep frown creasing her face.

A giant hand came down on her shoulder, and she let out a loud squeak. She turned around to see Tom standing behind her, a concerned but kind expression on his face. “Sorry to startle ya, Bridgette. I get that it must be kind of scary right now, and you might be wishing you weren’t in Paris—”

Bridgette’s eyes widened. “Oh, no! No, no, absolutely not! I love Paris! I’m just…” she sighed. “Worried. What if… what if… what if Ladybug _fails?_ ” She whispered the last part of her sentence, her nerves jumping all over the place.

“Then I’d come and save you,” Tom stated plainly, grinning. “Super Baker to the rescue!” He held a rolling pin at the ready, and Bridgette giggled. Tom smiled at this, but his smile became serious after a few seconds. “Listen, Bridgette. We have two superheroes who are protecting Paris, and the best way to help them is to show we’re not scared, because we _trust them._ ”

“I agree with Dad, Bridgette,” Marinette added as she came down the stairs. “We have to trust in Ladybug and Chat Noir, because we _know_ they can do it.” She stared into Bridgette’s eyes the entire time she spoke, never once breaking focus. “It’s hard, but we have to have faith.”

\---

_7:56 AM_

Adrien glared at Plagg as he chomped on the block of cheese. “I understand liking cheese, but of all the ones you could’ve liked, you decided on _Camembert?_ ” Plagg glared at him briefly before shoving the rest into his mouth and gulping.

“The eater doesn’t choose the cheese, the cheese chooses the eater,” Plagg declared. Since Félix was in the shower, Plagg was unafraid of being out and about. Of course, he wasn’t entirely sure that the boy didn’t know he existed. In fact, he could’ve sworn he had seen his face peering through a door when he first appeared to Adrien.

Adrien, of course, was _completely_ unaware of such a situation. All he seemed to care about was the fact that Plagg adored one time of cheese, and that was Camembert. “I’m pretty sure you just made that up,” Adrien scoffed. Plagg shook his head.

“Nah. Ripped it from that English series about wizards.” He sniffed the air. “You got any more?”

“Not right now.” Plagg glared at him, annoyed.

“If you want to transform into a superhero, then stinky cheese is the way to go. I don’t know what to tell you, kid!”

\---

_8:11 AM_

The moment Bridgette and Marinette arrived at school, Alya came running up to them. Her eyes were glowing with excitement as she pulled out her phone. “Ladyblog, bringing all the latest news about Ladybug! Isn’t that awesome!” She showed a picture of a site, with a video posted on it. “Check out the views!”

Bridgette frowned. “But Ladybug hasn’t taken care of the monsters in Paris currently.”

Alya scoffed at her. “She’s going to! She’s going to protect us all, because she is a true hero!”

As the three girls walked to class, Ivan Bruel surrounded by their classmates caught Bridgette’s eye. After she had zipped away from the stadium, she wasn’t exactly sure what had happened to the poor boy. However, he seemed alright, albeit a little uncomfortable.

Alix, a sporty girl who _constantly_ wears rollerblades, sat on a step above him on the stairs, grinning in excitement. “You really remember nothing?” He nodded.

A goth-like girl by the name of Juleka added, “You were totally going ballistic. It was so cool.”

Kim, who was now sitting right next to Ivan was smiling right at him. “You were seriously out to crush me, dude!” Ivan’s eyes widened in guilt, and he looked away, a little sad. “I’m sorry… I wasn’t really myself.”

Unfortunately, Chloé decided her presence was absolutely necessary. As she walked up the stairs with Sabrina, she gave a sharp laugh. “Once a monster, always a monster.”

Alya glared at Chloé, bitter. “How could you _say that?_ You’re the real Stoneheart. It wasn’t his fault that he got turned into a monster!”

Chloé rolled her eyes. “Oh? And I suppose it’s not his fault that Sabrina’s dad’s arm got _broken?_ ” Sabrina froze up for a second, as did Ivan. “ _I’m so sorry,_ ” Ivan whispered hoarsely. Sabrina didn’t respond, as Chloé grabbed her to continue going upstairs.

Ivan got up swiftly, and headed towards the locker rooms. Bridgette made to go after him, but Marinette stopped her. “Let me do it,” she said softly. “I’ve known him longer than you have.”

Bridgette nodded, and soon, her twin was rushing after the sulking boy.

\---

_8:13 AM_

Félix sat in the car with Adrien, his arms folded. He had put some makeup under his eyes, in case there was any eye-bags. Adrien kept telling him that he looked fine, but he _refused_ to look bad on the second day of school. As the son of Gabriel Agreste, he had to look his best no matter what.

That meant his tie being tied, his hair being gelled, everything tucked in, and nothing left unkempt.

_Unlike Adrien,_ he thought, looking at his twin. While he adored him, he still looked… different. Félix guessed that he was just so used to seeing him dressed as professionally as he was that seeing him in such _casual_ clothes bewildered him.

If it made him happy though, he would let it be.

As they stepped out of the car, he briefly thought of the elderly man. _Where did he even go?_ He thought, looking around the outside of the school. The chance of him being there again was low, but even so, he was curious to see if the man would make another appearance.

Nino walked up to them, smiling at Adrien. “Hey, dude! Have you seen all the rock monsters everywhere? Totally weird, man!”

Adrien nodded, his smile a little more strained than usual ( _to Félix’s trained eye_ ). “Yeah. Hopefully Lady Luck and Chat Noir will be able to figure out how to fix it.” Nino looked confused for a second.

“Lady Luck? Don’t you mean Lady _bug?_ ” Adrien’s eyes widened in alarm, and Félix fought everything that told him to smirk.

“Oh! Um, yeah, sorry!” He awkwardly rubbed his neck, grinning. “Ladybug.” _Only Chat Noir would know that Ladybug is actually Lady_ Luck _,_ Félix thought. “It’s easy to get names mixed up sometimes. Ask my father—he gets me and Félix mixed up all the time!”

Nino’s eyes widened as he looked over at Félix. “Whoa, really?”

Félix stared at him blankly. “No.” Nino’s surprise deflated into nothing. Excellent.

The last thing he needed was a cap-wearing teen trying to get to know him.

\---

_Also at 8:13 AM_

As Marinette looked around the locker room, she noticed a peek of a black shirt from a wall of lockers. “Ivan?” The boy peered at her as he pushed down his headphones.

“Oh. Marinette. Hi.” Marinette walked over. “Mind if I sit with you?” She asked, smiling awkwardly. He shrugged, and she sat down.

They were quiet for a few seconds. “You know, Ivan, you should really tell Mylène how you feel.”

More silence. “I… don’t understand. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Marinette sighed, and stood up in front of him, her hands on her hips.

“Come _on_ , I saw the way you look at her! No negative emotions, Ivan. I mean—” she took a deep breath, and sighed it out. “Be positive. I’m sure Mylène likes you too. You need to go talk to her.”

Ivan looked away from her. “Marinette, I’m not good with words.”

“Who needs ‘em? You could draw a picture, send flowers…?” Ivan’s eyes lit up.

“Write her a song?”

Marinette grinned at him. “That’s a fantastic idea! What girl wouldn’t love a love song specifically for her? You’ve got this, Ivan!” Ivan stood up, smiling, and gave Marinette a hug.

“Thanks, Marinette!” He then ran off, and as he did, Marinette watched him, smiling.

\---

_8:17 AM_

Marinette stepped into the classroom, and instantly saw Chloé smirking at her from _Bridgette’s_ seat. Sabrina sat next to her in Marinette’s old one, a less aggressive expression on her face. “Are you _kidding_ me?” Marinette seethed.

“Oh, puh-lease, Dupain-Cheng. Do I _look_ like I’m kidding?” Chloé pulled out a nail filer, and glanced at her nails as she continued speaking. “I’m going to sit here, and once Adrien gets into the room, he’s going to sit where Sabrina’s sitting.” Sabrina gasped.

“Chloé, I thought we were going to sit together this year! You promised that if I helped you with Adrien—”

“I’d let you sit with me? Yeah. When Adrien stops attending, _you_ can sit there,” Chloé retorted. As the rest of the students began filing into the room, Chloé and Marinette glared at each other. “ _Beat it,_ Dupain-Cheng!”

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Marinette released a small sigh of relief as Bridgette came up next to her, frowning. “Is there a problem?”

Chloé rolled her eyes. “Actually, yes. Your dumb sister won’t stop bothering me and Adrien!” Bridgette raised a brow.

“Really? Because it looks to me like you’re stealing our seats.” She smiled brightly. “Now, Chloé, you wouldn’t do something as mean as that, right?” Chloé narrowed her eyes, a deep scowl on her face.

“It isn’t mean if they were mine in the first place,” Chloé argued. “Think of how upset Adrikins will be when he doesn’t get these seats!”

_Of course. Adrien was behind this_ again _._ Marinette gritted her teeth. “Well, you can tell ‘Adrikins’ that if he wants his seats, he’ll have to take it up with _me and my sister_ , and not send you or Sabrina to take them from us.”

“Wait, what? I don’t care about those seats.” Adrien. Adrien was behind her. She turned to face him, giving him a nasty look. Then, she grabbed Bridgette’s arm and dragged her to the back, at the opposite side of where Félix sits.

Eventually, Chloé forced Adrien to sit down next to her, and Sabrina sat down next to Alya, grimacing. Nino waved at Félix since the seat next to him was open, but Félix simply continued to the back. He raised a brow at Marinette and Bridgette, but didn’t say anything as he sat down.

\---

_Also at 8:17 AM_

Mylène pushed out of the bathroom, worried. “Oh my gosh, I’m going to be late to class!” She didn’t even notice the big, burly boy leaning against the wall outside, and as she bonked into him, she let out a tiny squeal. Then, realizing who it was, laughed nervously. “Ivan, you scared me.”

Ivan pulled out his phone and a piece of paper. He blushed. “Mylène, I mad this for you.” He pressed play on his phone, and heavy metal music started playing, as he started loudly singing at her. Mylène looked at him fearfully, before running past.

Ivan stared after her, his mouth wide open. Then, he choked back a sob. He crumbled up his paper, and threw down his phone.

It was then that an akuma decided to fly toward him.

\---

“ _Breaking news! The stone beings around Paris—_ ”

“Alya, please turn off your phone. Class is beginning,” Miss Bustier instructed, a tight smile on her face. Alya looked at her phone, worried, before she shut it off.

“Agreste, Adrien?”

“Present!”

“Agreste, Félix?”

“Present.”

“Bourgeois, Chloé?”

“Present!”

“Bruel, Ivan?”

There was silence for a few seconds. Marinette noted Ivan’s absence from the room, and she grew nervous. “Bruel, Ivan, are you here?”

The door suddenly broke down, as well as the wall. A few of the students screamed, and hid underneath their desks. “ _Present!_ ” The rock monster roared. He looked around for a few seconds, before looking at Mylène. “ _Mylènnnnne!_ ” He snatched her into one of his hands, and she screamed loudly.

“Ivan, why are you doing this? Let _go!_ ” She stared at him desperately, squirming in his grip to no avail.

“ _It’s not Ivan, it’s Stoneheart. We’ll be together forever, Mylène!_ ” A loud wail and a dialing sound came from the middle of the classroom, and everyone turned to see Chloé on her phone, looking terrified. “Daddy? The monster is back! He’s in my classro _oooom!_ ” Her sentence turned into a screech as Stoneheart grabbed her with his other hand.

He then kicked down the wall leading to outside of the school, and left with Chloé and Mylène in tow.

It was silent in the classroom for a few seconds before pure _pandemonium_ broke out. Students screaming, running around and generally reacting like normal human beings would. The only ones behaving truly odd?

Marinette, Bridgette, Adrien, Félix, and Alya.

\---

If Bridgette had it her way, she would’ve run off to transform immediately. Unfortunately, Alya was running off to follow and film the akuma, and of course that meant Marinette was coming to make sure she was safe, and Bridgette wasn’t going to allow her _sister_ to go out without someone keeping _her_ safe.

Unfortunately, this meant no Lady Luck, and that was what Paris needed right now. After a few seconds, Bridgette heard some loud footsteps getting closer and closer. “Guys? Do you hear—” She turned around, and immediately stopped her sentence.

Four Stonehearts were running _right towards them._ “ _Guys!_ ” She yelled, grabbing Marinette and Alya, and yanking them out of the way of the unyielding akumas. They went past them without any notice, and Bridgette narrowed her eyes. “Where are they going?”

Alya chuckled. “Bridgette, that was totally brave of you! Thanks, girl!” Marinette glared at Bridgette, and mouthed something at her. ‘ _Go now._ ’ Bridgette gave a slight nod, and looked at Alya.

“Look, I think I should check on Marinette’s—my parents. With all the monsters everywhere, I want to make sure they’re safe. Marinette, keep an eye on Alya.” Marinette nodded. With that, Bridgette left Alya in Marinette’s (hopefully) capable hands.

\---

Chat Noir had no idea where Lady Luck was, but he didn’t have time to wait for her, despite him _desperately_ wishing for her help.

For some odd reason, he thought it would’ve been smart to take on Stoneheart, and managing to rescue Chloé and Mylène. Well, now, here he was, being ditched by Stoneheart while his copies came to attack. Even worse, these copies were larger than Stoneheart had started back the first time, so there was less space for him to dodge. Even _more_ worse? He discovered that every time he hit them, they _grew._

Yeah, he needed help. “Lady Luck, if you’re somewhere near here, I wouldn’t mind some assistance!” He heard a female voice growing closer, and he risked a look to see if she was nearby.

It wasn’t her. It was Alya and Marinette, and they were having a _car thrown right at them._ He quickly threw his baton in their direction, and it extended to keep the car from falling flat on top of them. Unfortunately, those were precious seconds that were quickly used by the stone monsters, who grabbed him. He tried to wiggle out of their grasp, but obviously _that_ wasn’t happening any time soon.

Luckily ( _ha, luckily_ ), Lady Luck appeared out of nowhere and yanked the car away from the two girls with her yo-yo. She grabbed his baton from the ground, and, making eye-contact with the alley chat, threw it right at him. He forcefully pulled his arm from the tight grip that the monster was keeping, and grabbed it out of the air. Extending it, the monster was forced to release him, and he rushed over to the spotted heroine.

“Nice to see you here, Lucky,” he said, giving her a tired smile. She didn’t smile back though, worry stretched across her face.

“We need to get to the main akuma: Stoneheart. According to a news source, he’s headed up to the Eiffel Tower. Let’s meet him there.” She started twirling her yo-yo, determination leaking into her eyes. “He has two civilians captured that we need to get to safety. We need to work fast.” He nodded. She whipped her yo-yo into the air as he used his baton to extend, and they headed in that direction.

\---

Mylène couldn’t say how high up they were. All she knew was that if Ivan let go now, it wasn’t going to go well for her or Chloé.

She shivered a little. The police were down below, and they had surrounded the Eiffel Tower a few minutes ago, but she doubted they could do much about the situation. Plus, she didn’t think that Mayor Bourgeois cared very much about her safety, unless it pertained to Chloé’s.

Which it didn’t.

Speaking of Chloé, she had not stopped complaining one bit about being captured. At one point, she got a little quiet, due to Ivan basically threatening her, but that was only for about five minutes. While Mylène didn’t particularly care for the rude blonde, she wouldn’t want her to get hurt.

“ _I demand my daughter’s safe return!_ ” Mayor Bourgeois’s voice was distant but still audible, calling up to Ivan.

Then, Mylène’s blood ran cold. “You know what?” Ivan growled. “You’re welcome to her!” With that, he _hurled Chloé straight toward the ground._ She could hear Chloé screaming out prayers and promises, but unless someone came to help, there was no way she would survive that fall.

A red blur flew through the air and grabbed Chloé. “Oh, thank God,” Mylène whispered, relieved. If Ladybug and Chat Noir were on the scene, Ivan would be safe, and so would she.

She really hoped they would succeed… She didn’t want something bad to happen to her or Ivan.

\---

As Lady Luck placed Chloé on the ground, Officer Roger called to his men to prepare to fire. She stomped over to him, horror in her eyes. “What do you mean, _prepare to fire?_ There is still a citizen of Paris up there who could get injured!” She glared at him as fiercely as she could, feeling the anger coursing through her veins. “Plus, it is _proven_ that attacking him will only make him bigger, and the situation even worse than it already is!”

He gave her a bored once-over, before saying, “Let the pros at the monster. We’ll take care of the problem.” She scoffed.

“He’s not a _problem_ or a _monster._ He is a teenager who got akumatized. If you can’t understand that—”

“Listen, Ladybug, you already failed once. Like I said, let the police take care of it. We have this under control, unlike you, you prepubescent teenager.” If Chat Noir hadn’t decided to hold her back at that moment, Lady Luck was going to give him a nice punch in the face to show him just how _under control the situation was._

Her face hot and flushed with frustration, she scowled at Chat Noir. “You know he’s wrong, Lucky,” he said to her calmly. “If it weren’t for you, Chloe wouldn’t be around anymore. And if they don’t get our help, Paris will be done for. We need to prove that to them, but beating up the officer is _not_ the answer. Trust me on this, okay?” She looked down at the ground.

“Okay.” She turned to look at Stoneheart, only to see him _vomiting out akumas._ “Oh my God…” The akumas joined together to create a ginormous face that glared darkly down at Paris.

“ ** _People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawk Moth._** ” _Hawk Moth?_ Lady Luck thought, a frown on her face.

“ ** _Ladybug, Chat Noir, give me the ladybug earrings and the cat ring now. You’ve done enough damage to these innocent people!_** ” The police turned to her, seeing what she would do next. There was a few seconds of silence, before a confident smile came onto her face.

“Hawk Moth, I believe you’re mistaken. Without you, none of these victims would be transformed into stone monsters. Don’t try to play it off as us being the villains, because we will prove time and time again that should you continue to attack Paris with your akumas, we will be there. We will fight for Paris, and we will defeat your creations, one after the other. No matter how long it takes, we _will_ find you, and _you_ will hand us _your_ Miraculous!” She started running, and leapt into the air, pulling out her yo-yo. “ _Time to de-evilize!_ ”

What happened next was kind of a blur to Lady Luck. All she could see was her yo-yo flipping and soaring, snatching one akuma after another, destroying the face that Hawk Moth had created. By the time she was done, there were no more akumas. They were all trapped in her yo-yo, being purified. She stood on part of the Eiffel Tower, and slowly turned to face the crowd that watched her from behind.

She took a deep breath. “Let me make this promise to you. No matter who wants to harm you, Lady Luck and Chat Noir will do everything in our power to keep you safe!” She then held the yo-yo in front of her. So small, so strong. Then, she pressed it.

A flood of white butterflies came flying out of it, cleansed of any evil inside of them. She heard cheers from below her, and she smiled. Then, she heard it.

“ _Help me, Ladybug!_ ” She looked up to see Stoneheart climbing away with Mylène, who was calling down to her. She waited for a few seconds until Chat Noir had come to her side.

“ _You’ll never take Mylène away from me! Come, stone beings!_ ” Stoneheart shouted, and soon enough, a bunch of stone monsters were surrounding the tower.

“We’re surrounded. We can’t attack them or Stoneheart, so what do we do now?” Chat Noir stated, looking at her for direction. Lady Luck looked up at Stoneheart, who was still climbing.

“You’re right. We can’t attack him. You know what we can do, though?” She looked over at him, grinning. “We can get his akuma. We know what it is, and we know _where_ it is, so…?”

Chat Noir’s eyes lit up. “So… that’s one more thing we know that we don’t know what to do with?” Lady Luck face-palmed, groaning.

“No. We _do_ know what to do. Stoneheart is in love with Mylène—it’s kind of like King Kong, in a way—and Mylène may not know it yet, but she and Stoneheart would be great together! So, we need to bring them closer together.”

Chat Noir sighed as he pulled his baton from his belt. “Not sure I’m getting where you’re coming from, but I’m following your lead.”

\---

Chat Noir had to admit that he was _very_ impressed by Lady Luck. _Very._ He was almost envious of her abilities, considering that she just defeated a crap-ton of akumas right then and there. But as he climbed up the tower by her side, he was grateful that if he couldn’t do it, she could.

As they came closer to Stoneheart, Mylène called down to them. “ _Help! I’m scared of heights!_ ” Lady Luck frowned.

“We’re coming to help you!” Chat Noir looked over at her as she stopped.

“What’s your plan?”

She smiled at him. “Powers. _Lucky Charm!_ ” A parachute popped out of the air, and she snatched it before it could fall away from her. “A… parachute.” She winced as the stone monsters started getting closer to her and Chat Noir. She leapt on top of the Tower and put it on, as one of the monsters tossed Chat Noir to the other side.

“ _You’re positive you know what you’re doing?_ ” Chat Noir yelled as he flew through the air, twisting so he landed on his feet. Ladybug looked at the parachute, then Stoneheart’s hand and Mylène. Then Chat Noir. “We’ll know soon enough,” she whispered to herself.

She then tossed her yo-yo, and tied it around Stoneheart’s hand and his body. She then pulled on it, causing Mylène to kiss him on his arm. Startled, he let go of Mylène, and she dropped for a few seconds before grabbing onto his finger. A crumpled paper ball fell out, and Chat Noir jumped off the side of the tower to hit it back up.

Lady Luck grabbed it in her hands, and broke it, causing the akuma to fly out. “ _No more evil-doing for you, little akuma. De-evilize—_ ” Before she could capture it, however, Stoneheart reverted to his normal form, Ivan, and he and Mylène began to fall. Her eyes flickered between the akuma and the two teens before quickly calling to Chat Noir. “Take care of Ivan, I’ve got Mylène!”

Chat Noir nodded at her before leaping down, calling out “ _Cataclysm!_ ” and breaking a part of the tower off. He grabbed Ivan with one arm while holding on to the tower with another, as Mylène came falling down, screaming.

Lady Luck knew she had to get this right, or Mylène wouldn’t survive, and the akuma would escape. She leapt off the tower into a dive, racing past Chat Noir and quickly grabbed onto Mylène. She then whipped her yo-yo into the air and sealed the akuma inside of it. “ _Gotcha!_ ” She hollered, as she yanked on the parachute cord.

Once Mylène, Chat Noir, and Ivan had touched the ground, Lady Luck touched her yo-yo. “ _Bye, bye, little butterfly,_ ” she called softly as she watched it soar into the sky. Pulling the parachute off her back, she threw it into the air. “ _Miraculous Ladybug!_ ”

The parachute exploded into thousands of ladybugs, and they rushed around Paris. Stone monsters transformed back into ordinary people, cars were placed back where they belonged, and the Eiffel Tower was repaired. Lady Luck smiled warmly as she gazed at the beautiful sight.

“Are you, uh, you seeing this?” Chat asked, amazed.

“Yeah. It’s… miraculous.” After looking for a few minutes, she turned to face Mylène and Ivan, who were avoiding looking at each other. “Hey. I think you guys have some stuff to talk about, yeah?”

Ivan looked at her with alarm, while Mylène appeared confused. “Such as the lyrics to Ivan’s song. Here.” She handed the crumpled paper to Mylène, who looked over it with curiosity. Her eyes widened, and her lips turned upwards in a smile.

“It’s beautiful! I, uh, couldn’t understand them very well when you were screaming—singing, _singing_. I’m sorry!” She awkwardly hugged herself, biting her lip.

Ivan rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah… I was kind of scary, wasn’t I. Is that why you left? If—if that’s why, I’ll be more quiet! More gentle! I’m sorry!” Mylène smiled shyly.

“Maybe… maybe we can give it a try?” She came up to him, and cautiously gave a hug. He hugged her back.

Then, Lady Luck heard her Miraculous beep, as well as Chat Noir’s. She turned to face him, smiling. “Well, I think it’s time for us to leave. It was good working with you, Chat Noir.” He grinned at her.

“Same with you, Lucky! Looking forward to working with you again!” With that, the two went off in opposite directions.

Paris was saved.

\---

Once the akuma was defeated, Bridgette went straight home, claiming that she had been stunned stupid by the akuma. Marinette and Alya, however, went back to class. For some odd reason, most kids were having a very difficult time paying attention, talking excitedly about the akuma, and Ladybug, and Chat Noir, and all that had happened that day.

Ivan also didn’t come back for the rest of the day. He was probably still recovering from the shock of being akumatized.

As the school day ended, Marinette went outside to be met with rain. Wet, gray, soaking wet rain. She stared for a few seconds before hearing foot-steps behind her.

She turned to look, but immediately turned back. It was Adrien, holding an umbrella. “Hey,” he said.

She met him with stony silence. “Look, I just wanted you to know that I was only trying to take the gum off you and your sister’s seat. I’ve never had a chance to go to school before, and I’ve never had friends… It’s kind of new to me. I’m sorry if I made a bad first impression, but I hope I can make a good second one.” She turned slowly to see him hold the open umbrella out to her.

She took it, briefly brushing his hand. Then, the umbrella chose that _exact moment_ to shut closed on her. Marinette heard a warm chuckle from outside of it, and opened it slightly, smiling a little herself.

“See you tomorrow.”

“See you too. To—tomorrow! See you tomorrow! God, why _can’t I talk,_ ” she mumbled, smiling.

_I guess I’ll be your friend, Adrien._

\---

_Septembre 4 th, 2018_

_1:35 AM_

It was dark in the room. Adrien’s snores rang through the room.

Félix, however, sat straight up in bed, staring at his brother.

He had witnessed him being attacked. He had witnessed him being injured. He had witnessed some truly impressive feats that day.

He had also witnessed his own fear.

In that moment, he made a decision.

He carefully stepped onto the floor, and slowly walked over to Adrien’s bed. He took Adrien’s hand, and pulled the ring off it. It became black as it reverted to its natural form. He then put it on his, and gazed at it.

_Do I really want to do this without asking Adrien?_ The thought hit him like a truck, and he frowned. He was worried about him, sure, but in the end, it was only Adrien’s decision whether or not he gave up the ring. He took it off.

Yep, he took it off.

It was definitely off.

That was definitely not the ring, still on his _finger._

He calmly walked to the bathroom and shut the door before he started panicking.

“Why are you still on my finger!” He hissed, pulling at it as hard as he can. It was then that he heard laughter. A black cat flew in front of him, grinning maniacally. “You _idiot!_ I cannot believe you actually did this!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends the Stoneheart arc. The rest of the episodes will normally be one chapter each. Write in the comments what villain you think is coming next!


	5. A Brief Respite (Post-Stoneheart)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridgette comes home from the battle. (Short Chapter)

After defeating Stoneheart, Bridgette immediately went home. She explained to Sabine and Tom that she was incredibly traumatized by the day’s events, and she needed to get some fresh air. They said they understood, but also reminded her that Paris’ heroes were protecting them. “Remember what Ladybug said,” Sabine told her, smiling.

Bridgette nodded, and she climbed up the stairs to her shared bedroom with Marinette. Then, up the ladder to the balcony, where she sat down on the warmed wood.

She took in a deep breath.

It came out shaky.

“I did it. I did it, and everyone is safe, everything is fine.” Tikki came out, staring at her with concern, but she waved the small Kwami away. “I need some time alone. Please.”

Tikki vanished into the earrings.

It was finally quiet. Bridgette smiled in relief, but it was a bittersweet one.

Then, the tears began to pour. They weren’t sad, per se, but cleansing. Relief for a matter taken care of.

But they were also filled with stress. This was her first time fighting a villain. She screwed up once. Sure, people supported her after her mighty words against the villain Hawk Moth, but what next? What if she failed the next time? What if she… what if…

“What if.” She said the words out loud. They were bitter and harsh to her ears, and she slowly stood up. “What _if_. That’s a stupid thought. What if is _stupid_. I’m being stupid right now. I need to calm down, and think about it.” She took in another deep breath as she rubbed the dried tears on her face.

“Failing next time is stupid, but making mistakes are not. I made a lot of mistakes, and that’s something I need to work on, but, _ugh_ , I’ll just try to make less next time!” She froze. “Next time… God, _next time._ ”

That was a scary thought. After all, Bridgette wasn’t sure what to expect for the future. Plus, she had only _just_ started this, and that meant that she was inexperienced. “Hawk Moth just started too,” she muttered in an attempt to comfort herself. “He’s no pro either.”

And yet, he managed to summon what seemed like _hundreds_ of those Akumas from the air. Had she left the earrings off, who knows what could've happened to Paris? And if he can make hundreds of them, what's stopping him from overwhelming her in the future? What if he does _exactly that?_

She let out a small whimper, but closed her eyes. _Relax, Bridgette. Stop making a mountain out of a molehill--so_ what _if he does it again? You know what? You're gonna defeat him. And you're gonna do it again and again._

Walking over to the railing, she leaned against it and sighed. Staring out at the view, she thought that it wasn’t the best view ever, but it was nice. It was overall quiet, besides the murmuring of people passing down below. She saw some gathered in huddles, leaning over their phones. _I wonder if they’re talking about today?_ Bridgette thought to herself, allowing a small smirk on her face.

_I wonder… if they’re talking about me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting this weekend! I had some things going on, and I had very little time to write. The next chapter is currently in progress, but here's a little something to tide you guys over until then!
> 
> Reminder that comments are always welcome and wanted! Let me know who you think is the next Akuma!


	6. Lady Wifi (Part One of Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Félix discovers there are problems with theft. Alya... has conspiracy theories.

_Septembre 4 th_

__ _8:04 AM_

“I can’t believe this! I cannot believe this!” Bridgette huffed, her breath ragged from running.

Marinette scowled to herself. “I can.”

Their third day of school, and they were late. While this was an absolute norm for Marinette ( _she had a terrible habit of running late the past few years_ ), Bridgette always had an impeccable record. If Marinette didn’t start getting up on time, that record was going to morph into something ugly very quickly.

Marinette shoved a croissant from the bakery into her mouth, taking a bite out of it. “Mmm frhhh ehffreennn ih ee i,” she mumbled, gaining a confused look from Bridgette, who narrowly avoided running into a person on the phone walking the other way. Pulling the croissant back out and swallowing what was in her mouth, she repeated, “I’m sure everything will be _fine._ ”

Bridgette glared at her for a few seconds. Then, she sighed. “Sure. Everything will be fine…”

The closer they got to the school, the more people they could see around. One of those was the girl that Marinette had started making friends with—Alya, Bridgette thought her name was. She looked up from her phone, and waved at Marinette and Bridgette excitedly, grinning.

“Hi, girls!” She glanced at her phone. “Cool, we have enough time to stop by your lockers before class. You up for a little conspiracy-theorizing?” Marinette shrugged, smiling warmly. Bridgette, of course, casually followed behind them as they started walking, beaming to herself. _On time. On time. We’re fine._

Bridgette was zoning out for a few seconds, still thinking about how they made it to school alright, when she abruptly heard her name. Or, rather, Lady Luck’s signature name to the public: Ladybug. “Wait, what about Ladybug?” Bridgette asked, placing her hands on Marinette and Alya’s shoulders. Alya looked back at her with a giddy expression.

“Ladybug! I’m trying to figure out if it’s someone we know, because since she only just showed up, she might be someone new to Paris—even better, someone in our _class!_ ” While Marinette’s eyes very visibly grew wider with concern, Bridgette simply smiled. “Perhaps she is?”

Alya put her backpack down as soon as they got to the twins’ lockers, and she pulled out a sheet of paper. While Bridgette pulled out books from her bag, Alya started reading off the list. “I have every girl in our grade listed on here—”

“Hold on,” Bridgette interrupted, holding out a hand. “How are you so sure she’s in our grade? She could be older than us.”

“Or younger,” Marinette suggested, gaining a look from Bridgette. “What?”

Bridgette sighed. “If she’s defending all of Paris, she can’t be younger than us. That’s extremely unsafe!”

Scoffing, Marinette folded her arms. “Oh, yeah? Who says she can’t be younger?”

Bridgette pouts. Before she could make a good come-back, however, Alya cleared her throat. “Do you guys _want_ to hear my list, or what?” A smirk is on her face, and Bridgette is very convinced that she was actually _entertained_ by their bickering. Bridgette nodded. “Yes…”

Alya smiled. “Alright, well, I put everyone on here from our class.” Almost immediately, Marinette raised her hand. Alya’s brow raised. “What?”

“Can’t you take some people off the list since they were seen at the same time as Ladybug?” Marinette asked, curious.

Alya shook her head. “No can do, Marinette. Since we don’t know all of Ladybug’s powers yet, we don’t know if those were _illusions_ of her real self so that people think that they aren’t her!” Alya puffed out her chest, her hands on her hips. “Just some comic book lore that you can rely on!”

“Uh, no, but continue anyways,” Marinette said.

“Alright, so like I said, everyone in our class—actually, maybe I should put myself down, since Ladybug might actually be _me,_ and I just don’t know it!”

Adrien walked over, looking excited. “Wait! Transforming without knowing it? Are we talking about _Sailor Moon_?” The three girls gave him a weird look.

“Wait, doesn’t Usagi know that she’s Sailor Moon though?” Bridgette asked, confused. “I don’t understand your point.”

Adrien narrows his eyes. “Yes, of course Usagi knows. I’m talking about Tuxedo Mask.” Bridgette starts to gape in realization, while the other two girls quietly go back to looking over the list and discussing. “Wait, you’re absolutely right! You are right, Mamoru doesn’t realize until near the middle of the first season that he’s Tuxedo Mask even though he’s transforming!” The two squeal excitedly.

The warning bell rings, and so, Adrien and Bridgette continue their conversation about _Sailor Moon_ while Marinette and Alya go over the list on the way to class. After all, the chances of Bridgette finding another fan of _Sailor Moon_ at this school seemed pretty rare, and she wasn’t going to waste the chance to rant and fan-girl over it!

After a few seconds, however, Bridgette was confused. “Hey, Adrien, where’s your brother, Félix?” Adrien winced a little.

“Umm, he’s sick. Very sick. He’s seeing a doctor this morning—he was, uh, throwing up all over the place. Very nasty, very gross stuff. Yeah.” Bridgette frowned, sad.

“Oh! Well, tell him I hope he gets better! That sounds awful!” She lit up for a second. “Maybe, me and Marinette can get some pastries from the bakery as a get-well-soon gift!” Adrien grinned, though it seemed almost bitter-sweet.

“Yeah, maybe that would help.”

_Earlier in the morning: 7:00 AM_

As Adrien woke up, he stretched. While he certainly didn’t need to stretch, considering the fact that his bed is made for comfort, it was still nice feeling.

What wasn’t nice? Something.

Something didn’t feel right. But what?

Adrien frowned, thinking through in his head. Then, he glanced at his hand.

The _ring._ The ring was _off his hand_. “Félix?” He whispered, looking out of his bed towards his twin’s. “Have you seen a ring anywhere? It might be silver or black-looking?”

Félix groaned sleepily, his back facing Adrien. Then, he slowly raised his arm in the air. “Right here, dammit,” he drawled. “And I can’t get it off.” Adrien gasped.

" _Félix!_ What did you _do!_ ” Adrien hissed, scrambling over to his brother’s bed. Meanwhile, Plagg came soaring out of nowhere, cackling with bad humor. They clutched their stomach, tears coming to their eyes.

"It was _hilarious,_ kid!” Félix shot Plagg a dirty look, but they didn’t even look chagrined. “Last night, while you were asleep, he took the ring—get this, apparently he knew you were Chat Noir _all along_ —and he put it on. Unfortunately for him,” they continued, turning to face the exhausted teen who was now facing both them and Adrien, “it’s now cursed onto his finger. Plus, you’re now cursed with bad luck, added as an extra procedure should the Miraculous ever get stolen! You’re stuck as Chat Noir now, and your brother barely even _got a chance!_ ” They explode into louder laughter.

Adrien looks at Félix with disbelief. “Really? You knew all along?” Félix frowns for a few seconds before smirking slightly, thinking of something in particular.

“You watch too much anime.” Adrien grew slightly red in indignance.

“It’s a hobby and a guilty pleasure, _you do it too—_ ”

“Only because you’re always watching it and some actually do have some sort of a plot line,” Félix interrupted, pushing himself upwards in bed. The mischievous look on his face slowly melted away as he looked back down at his hand, his red, swollen finger glaring back up at him. “Father’s going to kill me.”

Adrien frowned. “You could claim you’re sick. You look like it anyways—did you even sleep?” Félix gazed at his sheets, his dark-circles sharp against his pale skin. Sighing, Adrien rubbed his hand against his face. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to go to school, obviously, but you need to claim that you’re sick. Then, while I’m out, you need to talk to Plagg and figure out what to do, since _I’m_ Chat Noir.”

Félix nodded, pulling his blanket to his face. “You’re sure Nathalie will be convinced?” He grew paler ( _if that was possible_ ). “You think Father might be suspicious?”

Adrien shrugged. “I think it’s seventy-thirty odds-wise, in my opinion. You rarely get sick, so they might be really suspicious… or absolutely believe it.” Félix took in a deep breath.

“Alright. We’ll try it.” Adrien’s eyes widened.

“Félix? Actually following my plan? What on earth is this world coming to?” Adrien moaned, falling back on his bed with his hand pressed to his head dramatically. Félix smirked.

“Don’t forget you have to go to school.” Adrien immediately hopped off the bed, smirking.

So, Adrien prepared for school. Félix observed from the bed, his swollen finger hidden under the sheets. He glanced at Plagg, who had been staring at him for at least a half hour. “What?” He uttered, glaring at the creature. It smirked.

“Oh, nothing.”

_Nothing my ass,_ Félix thought to himself, burying himself further into his covers.

When Adrien finally finished getting ready, he walked over to Félix. “I’ll cover for you at school,” Adrien informed him. Félix rolled his eyes.

“Please.”

A few minutes after Adrien left the room, Nathalie knocked. “ _Félix, may I come in?_ ” Quickly and quietly, Félix shoved himself further under the covers, curling himself up and ensuring that all but his head was underneath. Fake-coughing, he called hoarsely, “You may enter, Nathalie.”

The door opened, and the assistant walked inside, heading towards Félix’s direction. While her face was mostly expressionless, her eyes betrayed the worry inside. Whether that was actually for Félix’s health, or for the repercussion from her employer for his son’s illness, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t really care, either.

“What are your symptoms besides coughing, Félix?” She stood next to his bed, holding a tablet and a pen in her hands. _Mother would sit on the bed and touch my head, checking for a fever,_ Félix thought bitterly. He had to remind himself that this was a paid servant of his father’s before he could respond.

He pretended to cough. It came out much more gravelly and painful than anticipated, and he winced. _Great, maybe I’m actually getting sick,_ he thought, frowning deeply. “I couldn’t sleep all night due to the coughing, and my nose is running, but not stuffy. I was also extremely cold.”

“Coughing, runny nose, fever… this sounds like the flu.” She sighed. “I have to take Adrien to school so he isn’t late, but while I’m in the car, I’ll see about calling a doctor to come see you.”

Félix wrinkled his nose in annoyance. “I don’t want to see a doctor,” he hissed. “If it’s the flu, I’ll just sleep it off.”

Nathalie looked like she wanted to object—probably due to his father, again—but she said nothing. She only nodded. “Make sure you break the fever,” she instructed him, as she headed outside of the room. She paused in the doorway, not looking at him. “Feel better, Félix.” With that, she left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Félix released a breath that he didn’t know he had been holding. Plagg popped out of nowhere, snickering quietly. “Well, isn’t she a ray of sunshine?” Félix glared at the creature.

“Tell me everything you know.”

_8:16 AM_

“And that’s everyone I know,” Alya finished, sitting next to Marinette. “I also drafted up a list of characteristics from when I saw Ladybug, as well!”

Marinette pursed her lips. “Oh? Do tell!”

“Well, Ladybug has black hair. Her eyes are blue— _really_ blue, and she’s pale. Her hair is long, and in pig-tails…” She slowly turns to face Bridgette, her brow raising. “Kind of like Bridgette.” Marinette was on the verge of an anxiety-attack.

However, Bridgette just laughed. “Me? Ladybug?” She cupped her mouth with her hands, still laughing. “I can’t be Ladybug, Alya. Marinette was telling me about her experience with the super-heroes, and she told me that Ladybug rescued another civilian before her. If I were Ladybug, with no offense to anyone else, I would go straight for her.” _Smart, Bridgette,_ Marinette thought, smiling warmly.

Alya frowned. “What if the other person was in more urgent danger?” Bridgette shrugged.

“Oh well. Sisters before citizens, I guess.”

Alya frowned even further. “Then… Marinette?” Marinette started in her seat.

“Wait, what?”

“Are _you_ Ladybug?”

Marinette gave her an odd look. “Alya, I was seen at the same time as Ladybug— _I was with you when you met her!_ ”

Bridgette placed a finger to her lips. “Maybe she looks different in person than in costume?”

Adrien, who was listening in on the whole conversation, added, “Assuming that Chat Noir doesn’t naturally have cat ears normally, it’s probably a fair guess that Ladybug looks a little different normally. Different animes have the magical girl get completely different hair at times—”

“Adrikins, we get it, you _love_ anime,” Chloé purred, sidling up next to him. She wrapped a yellow-cardiganed arm around him, much to his chagrin. “But obviously, Ladybug can’t be anyone in this class—no hair-style change could get rid of _their_ ugly mugs!” She let out a loud, obnoxious giggle before Adrien moved her arm off her.

“Chloé, that’s rude. I can’t believe you’d call yourself ugly,” he gaped. Chloé curled her lip, only showing the faintest hint of annoyance.

“I didn’t say I was—”

“That technically means that Chloé’s on the table for Ladybug, if we consider illusions!” Alya loudly proclaimed, standing up in her seat and slamming her hands on the table. The whole class went silent, staring at the determined teen.

Then, the laughter started. “Chloé? Ladybug? Really?” “Alya, you really don’t know Chloé if you’re thinking she’s a possibility.” “There is a zero point one percent chance that Chloé could be Ladybug. While I’m all in favor for ideas, that’s still extremely low.” “Glasses, really?”

Alya blushed in embarrassment. “Possible until proven not so!” Marinette and Bridgette frowned in concern, but they said nothing. Meanwhile, Chloé smirked to herself while Sabrina beamed at her.

“Wow, Chloé! That’d be so cool!”

_12:34 PM_

Alya was determined. Bridgette definitely had to hand her that.

At lunchtime, Chloé immediately headed to the lockers with Sabrina and Kim, and, sure enough, Alya followed behind. Bridgette knew that this wasn’t going to end well—she had a nagging feeling that Alya had a really bad plan in mind. Call it intuition, but she just _knew_ something bad was going to happen.

Sure enough, as Bridgette watched from a distance, she saw it. Chloé and the others entered the locker-room, and after pulling out her phone, Alya followed inside. “ _Alya, no,_ ” she whispered to herself. She started walking over, slowly gaining speed and agency as she walked over when the doors slammed open.

Chloé was dragging Alya by the arm, while Sabrina was holding onto her phone. “I’m sure Mr. Damocles will _love_ hearing about this,” Chloé hissed, as Alya tried to pull away.

“Chloé, what are you doing?” Bridgette said, a hint of the fury she felt inside in her voice. She was practically manhandling Alya, and it was an awful sight to see.

The blonde looked over at Bridgette, smirking. “Teaching someone a lesson. This is a school, right?” Bridgette stormed over.

“Chloé, whatever Alya did, I’m sure she didn’t mean it. Back. Off,” Bridgette said coldly, as they got in front of the principal’s office. Chloé raised a brow, smirking.

She yanked the door open, dragging Alya in with Sabrina following behind. Then, she slammed it closed. A few seconds later, the click of a lock.

Bridgette couldn’t do anything even if she wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those who actually are sticking with this, cool! Sorry for such a late update-- a lot has been happening lately, and I was finding a lack of time to write... plus slight writer's block. However, it's broken, and I intend to continue working as much as I can! Spring break is coming up, and I'm looking forward to it!
> 
> Don't be afraid to leave any thoughts, questions, or ideas in the comments! Believe me, this author doesn't bite!


	7. Lady Wifi (Part Two of Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several complications come up. Félix is... struggling.

_12:41 PM_

Alya gaped at the principal in shock. “You’re seriously going to suspend me, are you kidding me? School just started!” Mr. Damocles sat in his chair uncomfortably, the sweat slightly glistening off his head.

“I’m sorry, Alya, but…” He glanced at Chloé, who continued to hold her finger over her phone, smirking. He leaned forward to Alya, gazing at her intensely. “I’ve got no choice. You may not know yet, but Chloé Bourgeois holds more power than I have at this school.” Alya curled her lip in disgust.

He cleared his throat, adjusting his tie. “You will serve detention after school, Alya.” Chloé’s eyes widened in fury. “ _Detention?_ Mr. Damocles, my _daddy_ —”

“A week! A week’s suspension,” Mr. Damocles shouted, his beady eyes flickering back between Chloé’s victorious smile and Alya’s stunned gaze.

Alya felt… angry _._

_Really_ angry.

_12:57 PM_

Bridgette sat with Marinette, her fingers tapping on the table anxiously. “I’m… wondering.”

Marinette raised a brow. “Wondering about what?” She took a bite of her breaded fish. “If it’s about Alya, I’m sure Mr. Damocles will let her off easy.”

Bridgette bit her bottom lip. “See, that’s where I think you’re wrong, because _Chloé_ dragged her in there.” Marinette’s eyes bugged out, and she nearly gagged on her fish.

“Wait, Chloé? Oh no,” she groaned. “In that case…” Marinette frowned. Knowing Chloé, such a small incident was bound to blow up into bigger than it actually was. Such an event would probably be bad for Alya.

Marinette slipped out of her chair. “I’m gonna check on Alya really quick,” she told Bridgette, who looked up with wide eyes. “Keep eating lunch—don’t wait on me, ‘kay?” Bridgette nodded.

The black-pig-tailed girl headed out the cafeteria doors, determined to get to the principal’s office. _Perhaps I can try and cool things down,_ she thought semi-hopefully. Before she could knock on the door, however, Alya burst out, tears in her eyes.

“Alya? What’s wrong?” Marinette asked, as Alya rushed past her. Hazel eyes gazed into blue furiously, as she bit out, “ _Suspended._ ” Marinette loudly shouted, “ _What?!_ ” as she ran after Alya hurriedly.

Alya got to the entrance of the school before she stopped running, and it was clear that she was forcing the tears away. “I’m suspended for a week,” she scowled. “But I _will_ find out the truth!”

Marinette confusedly said, “The truth? What—” Before she could ask anything else, though, the determined girl ran out the doors of the school, leaving Marinette to look after her. Marinette knew she could run after her. But…

She turned to look up the stairs where Chloé was observing, smirking. She gave a small hand-wave to Marinette, and Marinette shivered slightly. If she ran after Alya…

Alya is her friend! She should help Alya!

But…

Chloé.

Awful Chloé.

“I’m sorry, Alya,” she whispered under her breath as she headed back to the lunchroom.

_1:13 PM_

The moment Alya found a bench, she sat down, and the dam was finally broken. Tears poured from her eyes. They weren’t tears of sadness, however. No, Alya _refused_ to be sad.

These were tears of _injustice_. Of righteous anger and determination. “Chloé Bourgeois, I _will_ succeed in my mission,” she hissed angrily.

She didn’t even notice the butterfly fluttering towards her until it was too late.

_1:34 PM_

Félix glanced outside his bedroom door. “Coast is clear.”

Plagg yawned. “I could’ve told ya that myself, kid.” They flew over to the fake doll of Félix lying in his bed, slightly covered by blankets. “I can also tell you that this isn’t very convincing, also.” Félix bit his cheek, annoyed.

“I’ve got no better alternative, you dumb cat.” As he turned to face inside, the door slam shut behind him, and he jumped. He glanced backwards, nervousness in his gaze. “That door doesn’t slam. It doesn’t do that.”

Smirking, the kwami floated up next to Félix’s face. “Well, kid, that’s what happens when you’re cursed with _bad luck_. Besides, that’s not even the worst of it!”

Félix heard a voice, and sharply spun to face his computer. A video was playing on it. It hadn’t even been on a few seconds ago. “How on earth,” he uttered, as he slowly slunk over to the seat.

“ _My name is Lady Wifi, and I will uncover the truth!_ ” A black-masked girl was on the many screens, holding a phone in one hand. It seemed she was in an office, where a man in a suit was frozen behind her. “ _Ladybug, I will know your identity, mark my words!_ ” Félix froze.

It was an akuma. That much was apparent. But he couldn’t put a name to the face, other than Lady Wifi. “Well, not my problem,” he scoffed, turning away from the computer. “I have an old man to visit.” Plagg turned pale, if that was possible.

“Old man? Ha! What old man?” Plagg pretended to put an arm to their face nervously. “You mean _your_ old man? Your _father?_ Ha!”

Blue steel eyes burned into Plagg’s very soul. “ _You know exactly what old man I’m talking about,_ ” Félix said quietly, as he pulled some shoes on. “I’ve already looked up his address. We’re heading over there now.”

Plagg’s eyes widened. “Kid, you can’t!”

Félix folded his arms. “Oh?”

Félix could tell that Plagg was freaking out by the abrupt reveal of information that he had. He was a very, _very_ bad liar. Plagg took in a deep breath, sighing. “First, there’s an akuma. You’ve got to transform and help out Lady Luck.” Félix grimaced.

“Why? Can’t she do this herself? Y’know, since she took care of all those butterflies last time,” he said flatly. Plagg shook his head.

“She’s too green. She needs an ally, and since you decided to steal the ring (“Borrow.”), you’re Chat Noir. You _need_ to help her.” Plagg looked away for a second. “Also, you’re not supposed to know about the Guardian.”

Félix’s brow raised. “Ah, that’s what he’s called, huh?” Plagg’s gazed snapped back to Félix, and they swore.

“If you don’t take care of the akuma, you’re going to have more problems on your hands than just a stuck ring,” Plagg warned. Félix raised a brow. It almost sounded as if the kwami was… threatening him. Félix groaned, glancing at the windows that take up an entire wall of the room. They do open…

“You know what? No. I’m not doing it. I’m going to find that Guardian, and I’m going to get him to take this ring off of me,” Félix announced. “That’s final. Then, Adrien can have his ring back, and he can help out Ladybug.” Plagg rolled their eyes, but bolted into a pocket in Félix’s vest.

Félix walked back over to his door, and opened it slowly and carefully. He could see the Gorilla now sitting out there, playing with some action figures, but that was all. Unfortunately, he was sitting right by the door, which was where Félix was planning to escape. He took extra care to close his door quietly, and turned around.

Plagg’s head poked out of his pocket and looked up at him, grinning mischievously. “You know, you could just transform and leave that way.” Félix scowled.

“No.” He walked over to the stairs, and walked up to the second floor of his shared bedroom with Adrien. While Adrien wanted to store a bunch of CD’s and video-games in their bookshelves, Félix insisted on at least two bookshelves for himself to have actual _books._ But, if one asked, books wasn’t all he kept. In fact, one of the shelves had a diagram of the entire house, if he could find it…

Peering at Plagg, he asked, “Since I’m not going along with _your_ plan, I hope you won’t mind assisting me with mine. Can you look on the second-to-top shelf for a diagram?” Plagg casually floats in the air, and bumps into Félix’s head at one point.

“Perhaps, if you get me some Camembert.” Félix makes a disgusted face.

“Camembert? Am I expected to have that magically appear or something?”

Plagg rolls their eyes. “No, kid. You need to get me some. It’s good for lots of things, like eating, and bribing certain cats to do whatever you want, you know?” Félix raised a brow at his last statement. _Whatever I want? I’ll have to keep that in mind._

“Well, I don’t have any right now, so that’s that.” Félix continued looking through his books, trying to locate the sheet. Then, some books fell _on his head._ And they were hard-cover, of course, because Félix believed that paper-backs are for cowards.

As he stands there for a few seconds, almost in shock, Plagg pretends to swim through the air in front of him. “Bad luck, kid. Not that I know anything about ittttttt,” Plagg drawled. Félix takes one of the books off his head, feeling something harder than the normal paper poking at him.

“Not so bad,” Félix said, pulling the diagram out with a smile.

That smile withered away, however, as he realized that the diagram was all crinkled up and folded from falling off the shelf.

_2:14 PM_

Bridgette frowned at the video on the screen. She knew that Alya had been suspended, but the fact that she had been akumatized?

Marinette had watched it at least ten times now, each time growing more and more upset. “If I had just… just done something, instead of being such a coward,” Marinette whimpered for the tenth time, her head in her hands. Bridgette sighed.

“It wasn’t your fault, Marinette. I don’t think you could’ve done much at that point.”

To be honest, Bridgette wasn’t sure _why_ they were still in class. The entire class was distracted by this video, and despite the best attempts by the teacher, there was no succeeding in getting them back on track. Chloé had already taken her leave, saying that she had ‘better places to be’ or something along those lines. Interestingly enough, Ivan was refusing to watch the video. Mylène was sitting with him in a corner of the classroom, talking to him in quiet, soft tones.

Bridgette decided to leave Marinette to her stressing for a few seconds to check on them. After all, it’s not like there was anything truly happening in class at the moment.

As she came closer to Ivan, he looked up at her, almost perturbed by her presence. “Oh, uh, hi, Bridgette,” he said, almost scooting closer to Mylène. Bridgette leaned down towards him, giving a kind smile.

“Hey, Ivan. You okay?” Mylène sighed, hugging Ivan (who started to blush).

“He’s worried about the class connecting this with him. Since he was the first monster, he doesn’t want anyone to think he’s part of the problem or something.” Mylène glanced over at the class. “Until we know more about what’s happening, we’re trying to lay low.”

Bridgette sat down next to them, crossing her legs. “Well, if there’s anything you should know, it’s that you’re not a monster, and you’re _definitely_ not part of a problem. What happened to you is not your fault, and if anyone thinks that, I’m sure that me and Mylène will prove them wrong!” _Although the way I would do it is probably a bad idea,_ Bridgette thought, thinking of showing up as Lady Luck and telling them off.

Ivan smiled warmly, appreciation glittering in his eyes. “Thanks, Bridgette. That means a lot to me.” Bridgette gave him a quick hug, and then got up.

“Maybe you guys should head home. Obviously, nothing’s happening at school, and who knows if it’s actually safe here or not, considering what happened to our principal.” Ivan looked at Mylène, who nodded at him. They then got up, and started walking together.

The class grew quiet as they headed out, and Bridgette knew it was because of Ivan. To the boy’s credit, he didn’t look at them more than once, and the one time he did, it was with slight indignance mixed with nervousness. Ivan opened the door, and Mylène walked out first, with him following. The door shutting sounded louder than normal.

The teacher, sighing, made brief eye contact with Bridgette before looking to the class. “You know what? Early release for class today. You all can leave.” The class let out whoops and cheers as they grabbed their bags and headed out the door. Meanwhile, Bridgette walked over to Marinette, who was _still_ moping. She placed her hand on the twin’s shoulder, who jumped.

“Time to go,” she whispered. Unlike the rest of the class, that held an entirely different meaning for the two girls.

_3:17 PM_

Félix released a deep breath. “Finally, we’re out,” he hissed, glancing back at the house’s fence for a few seconds. They were multiple times where the Gorilla or Nathalie nearly caught him sneaking out, but he had officially ran away from the home.

And it felt very, very wrong. Almost like something Adrien would do, really.

Pulling out his phone, he made sure to turn off his location, and clicked on the Map app. “Alright, here’s the address…” Plagg yawned.

“Kid, there’s literally a villain out there, probably causing destruction or some other villain-y thing, and here you are, trying to avoid it, when you’re one of two people who can fight it. But sure, go ahead and do what you’re doing.” Félix groaned. “I’m gonna laugh when you end up going to the wrong address, by the way. Complete waste of your time and effort, in my opinion.”

“I don’t have the wrong address.” He knew it was right.

Fortunately, the distance to walk would only take about fifteen minutes, if he was moving fast enough.

\--

That… felt longer than it should’ve.

As Félix looked at the door of the massage and therapy parlor, he felt something strange. Energetic, possibly. The focal point of that energy was mostly effecting his finger, and he realized that this was probably the place.

The sign says open, anyways.

Félix almost immediately sees an open screen door, and inside, an elderly man. _The_ elderly man. “Come in, Adrien,” the man says. Smirking, Félix slides the door closed.

“Wrong twin.” The man turns around faster than Félix can react, and he looks into fierce brown eyes. A floating turtle appears next to him with a more passive expression on his face.

“What are you doing here? It’s too early yet,” the man says aggressively. “You should not be here.”

Félix folded his arms as Plagg flew out of his vest pocket. “Well, Fu, I did my best, but unfortunately, I just could not stop him.” ‘Fu’ glared at them. He slowly got up from where he was sitting on the floor, and walked up to Félix, staring at him in the face. “Félix Agreste, why are you here.”

“Uh—”

“He stole the Miraculous from Adrien for funsies, and then he realized that he can’t get it off,” Plagg interrupted, cackling. The elderly man’s eyes widened in alarm.

“You _what—_ ”

“I was worried about his safety, okay?” Félix shouted. “I saw that monster, I saw how he could’ve gotten seriously hurt—”

“He would’ve been fine. He was meant to be Chat Noir, Félix,” the elderly man moaned, rubbing his head in frustration. Félix stood there, irritable.

“Well? There has got to be a way to get it off me.” Félix looked around. “Is there anywhere we can sit besides the floor? I think we’ll be here a while.”

The elderly man looked repulsed. “There’s an akuma outside, and you’re wanting to try and get rid of the ring.” Félix raised a brow.

“The sooner we can get this thing away from me and my brother, the better. I have a feeling you know how we can do that.”

_4:17 PM_

Lady Luck had been searching for Lady Wifi for _hours._ Somehow, the akumatized girl was hiding extremely well, because she hadn’t had any luck finding her. Marinette had been on the lookout herself, searching from the streets below the roofs of Paris.

She wanted to jump down to Marinette and complain to her, but considering that she had an _audience—_ aka, the citizens of Paris—that probably wouldn’t be the best idea. Besides, she was sure that she would find the akuma eventually. Hopefully. Maybe.

There had been no sight of either the akuma or Chat Noir yet, which concerned Lady Luck immensely. Two super-heroes looking for an akuma would be better than one, no matter how lucky she may be. “Where could they be,” she muttered to herself.

She jumped into an alley-way for a second, detransformed, and walked out to Marinette, who looked at her with concern. “You okay?” Bridgette sighed.

“No. I don’t know where Alya—Lady Wifi, I don’t know _what_ to call her—is, and I don’t know where Chat Noir is, either! It’s like they’re purposefully going out of their ways to hide from me.” _Well, one of them probably is,_ she thought, thinking of the video from earlier. Marinette wrapped an arm around Bridgette, giving her a half-hug.

“I’m sure they’ll show up soon enough. Maybe we should take a fifteen minute break?” Marinette suggested. Bridgette sighed. She glanced up at the sky, at the roofs of Paris.

“You know what? That sounds great.”

_5:04 PM_

Félix inhaled deeply. “So to get this ring off, I have to kiss Ladybug?”

Plagg shrugs. “Kind of. But don’t forget that she needs to love you for it to actually work, okay? So don’t do anything _stupid._ ”

Master Fu (apparently that was his name that he insisted on being called) sighed. “In the meantime, Plagg will disappear every now and then to communicate with the ladybug kwami, and they will try to make a fake ring that Adrien can wear so you can share the responsibility of Chat Noir.” Félix curled his lip at that.

Plagg zoomed in front of Félix’s face abruptly. “Alright, buddy. Time to transform.” Félix’s eyes widened. “What, you thought because we came up with a solution for this problem that you don’t have to be Chat Noir?” He got even more in Félix’s face. “Incorrect. Now get out there, kid!”

Félix looks at Plagg with bewilderment before glancing over at Master Fu. The old man gives Félix a thumbs up. “You’ll be fine, Félix.” _You’re just saying that so I’ll feel better about doing this,_ Félix thought bitterly.

“Plagg…” Plagg perked up, excited.

“Transform me.”

_5:36 PM_

Lady Luck watched Chloé through her yo-yo, her brow furled in disbelief. “Alya seriously thinks that Chloé could be me?” The blonde was currently trying to untangle her cosplay yo-yo, while dressed in a rather… nice-looking costume, considering the lack of details known about Lady Luck’s outfit. Then again, Chloé did get a pretty close-up view of her.

She was… almost surprised that Chloé didn’t think she was Lady Luck.

She heard a thump next to her, and flipped to see Chat Noir next to her. “Oh, thank God,” she huffed, smiling. “I thought you were never going to show up.” He seemed almost disgruntled.

“Uh… yeah. I got a little held up.” His voice sounded… deeper? Maybe? Lady Luck came closer to his face, her eyes narrowing. Chat Noir stumbled back in alarm.

“Held up, Chat Noir?” She walked over to him slowly. “Held up by what?”

He coughed. “Uh, sickness…?”

“Oh? Then, are one of the symptoms of your sickness getting your _eye-color changed?_ ” Before the cat could run away, she yanked him backwards by his much lengthier belt, and he yelped. He fell flat on his back, and gazed up at the disapproving super-heroine.

“Who are you, and what have you done to Chat Noir?” He sighs.

“Alright. I haven’t figured out what my name should be, but I’m just going by Chat Noir for now. Before you panic any more than you have, he’s absolutely fine. I just… did something stupid, and now we’re working something out together.” Lady Luck looked even more menacing, and he blurted, “Listen, I _promise,_ he’ll be back as soon as we’ve fixed this, but rightnowwecan’tdoanythingokay?” Lady Luck raised a brow.

“What, did you guys get in a fight or something?” As she stepped away, the other Chat got up and brushed himself off. She abruptly whipped around to face him, and his eyes widened. “Were you and Chat Noir—the one I’m working with—dating?” He starting choking.

“W-what—no, I like girls, I like girls, I _definitely_ don’t like him, I like girls—like you!” Lady Luck let out a loud “ _Ha!_ ”

“Well, I don’t think I like you, so hope that helps your dilemma,” she snorted, as she continued looking through her yo-yo. She then paled. “Oh no.”

Chat walked over to her side, peering through her yo-yo. “Is that Chloé?”

“Yes, but… how did Lady Wifi get in there without us seeing her?” Lady Luck then saw something shoot into the sky, transforming into a humongous… screen. “ _Citizens of Paris, I have excellent news for all of you! If you are wondering who the girl behind the mask of Ladybug is, wonder no longer!_ ” She then yanks the mask off a frozen Chloé. She dramatically gasps, causing Lady Luck to roll her eyes. “ _Paris, your hero is Chloé Bourgeois—a bratty girl who gets whatever she wants because her_ daddy’s _the mayor!_ ” At that moment, Lady Luck made a very quick decision.

And crashed into the room through a window.

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Lady Wifi,” Lady Luck said, scowling. Chat jumped in next to her, a determined expression on his face. Lady Wifi looked extremely confused, glancing between Lady Luck, Chloé, and the strange camera-icon floating in the air. She then took her phone, and drew an x, causing the icon to disappear. Chloé also started moving abruptly, and fell flat on her face as she screamed.

Lady Wifi got into a combat-ready position, grinning. “You can stop me now, but you can’t stop me from revealing the truth!” She slides her fingers forward across her phone, and a neon-pink icon flies out towards Lady Luck. Before it can hit her, she jumps out of the way, and looks to see a pause icon stuck against the wall. It looked shockingly similar to the one that was stuck on Chloé, and immediately, she knew what it did.

As Lady Wifi continued firing at her and Chat, she noticed that he had nothing to defend himself with. “Where’s your baton?” She shouted, using her yo-yo to try and attack the akuma. He looked at her with disbelief. “ _Baton?_ I’m supposed to get a _baton?_ ” Her eyes widen in shock, and narrowly misses yet another icon.

She quickly glances around the room, and spots a door. Grabbing Chat by the arm, she runs out through it to a stairway, and holds herself against the closed door, preventing it from opening. She stares at Chat with bewilderment.

“What do you mean, ‘I’m supposed to get a baton’?” He gapes.

“I mean that I didn’t realize that was a thing! I thought that—didn’t the other Chat Noir have powers or something?”

“He has Cataclysm, which allows him to destroy stuff, but that’s the only power he has and it lasts five minutes. He also had a _baton_ ,” she states again. “Turn around.”

He gives her a stunned look. “What? Why?”

“Just do it!” He slowly turns, and she scans his belt line. Nothing. No baton to be found. He turned back to her, hands on his hips.

“Alright, so you have no weapon. Do you know how to fight?”

“Enough.”  
  


“Perfect.” She winced as a very heavy bang came from the other side of the door. “Listen, do you have any clue how we can get to her phone?”

Chat stands there for a few seconds, thinking. “Well, her phone requires connection to send videos and stuff… maybe we need to go further down so that she can’t attack us in that way?” Lady Luck nods, and as another bang comes at the door to open it, she and Chat start running down the stairs. She hears the whipping of icons flying past her, but she forces herself to ignore it.

Then, it stops.

She looks up, and sees that Lady Wifi has disappeared. Sighing, she slinks down. “Geez, she’s so much more different from Stoneheart…” Once she was sitting down, she glanced up at Chat, who was still checking to see if she was following. “So, Chatón, what’s your story?”

He sighs. “Alright, uh… I’m currently borrowing the ring from the other Chat, we are _not_ dating because I am _straight_ , he needs me to take his place for a bit, and I honestly wish I knew better what I am doing.” She raises a brow. Then sighed.

“We need a plan.” Sitting up a little more, she gestured for Chat to join her on the floor. “Alright, so. Lady Wifi’s powers come from her phone. So far, we’ve seen her create a camera icon, which is presumably for filming. The other icon is a pausing icon, which freezes people, I’m assuming. I don’t know what else she might be able to do, if anything.”

“She’s seriously determined to discover your identity,” he added, and Lady Luck nodded. “So, what are you gonna do, Ladybug?” She groaned, putting her head in her hands. “Wait, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Lady _Luck._ Unfortunately, everyone thinks it’s Ladybug, but it’s Lady _Luck_.” She hears a snort, and sees him trying to hide a smirk. “Are… are you _laughing?_ ”

“N-no,” he coughs out, his hand hiding his obviously smiling mouth. She rolls her eyes, and starts to stand up. “I just find it interesting that you’re this annoyed about the public messing up your name.”

Sighing, she says, “We need to fight her, sooner or later. Just… screw plans, and follow my lead.” He raises a brow under his mask, and follows her as she makes her way up the stairs.

As they get to one door, she sees a brand new icon. “It’s a lock,” she notes, touching the door handle. It doesn’t move. “She set up a trap already?” Heading up another flight, she sees yet another door with a lock. Another. And another.

Then, one without one.

Glancing at Chat, they nod at each other before slamming the door open. However, Lady Wifi is nowhere to be seen. All that could be seen was a bunch of tables with phones placed in the middle of each of them. “Well, if this isn’t suspicious,” Lady Luck whispers, Chat walking close behind.

Then, she hears a whir, and whips around to see Lady Wifi attempt to fire an icon at Chat. Without saying anything, she shoves him down to the floor as the icon flies at them, and they roll out of the way of another one short behind. “So, Lady,” Chat shouts as he jumps out of the way of another icon, “How about a date after this?”

The icons stop for a moment as both Lady Luck and Lady Wifi stop in bewilderment. “I honestly can’t tell if you’re talking to me or Lady Wifi,” Lady Luck said, standing awkwardly. “This is literally not the time or place for this.”

“Look, I’m flattered, Cat-boy, but I’m not interested,” Lady Wifi snorted. While she was distracted, Lady Luck quickly threw her yo-yo, and Lady Wifi was tied up. She laughed.

“Do you _really_ think this’ll work?” In a flash of pink light, she vanished, and suddenly appeared on a table. “You can’t catch me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's been a while! For obvious reasons, things have been a little crazy, and I also went through massive writer's block. However, I think I'm back on track!
> 
> This was originally going to be two parts, but after writing a crap-ton, I was like, 'alright, this needs to be split into three parts'. So, yeah! Enjoy!
> 
> Any criticism, advice, comments, theories? Feel free to leave them in the comments!


	8. Lady Wifi (Part Three of Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very harmful but... short battle? Bridgette freaks out a little, and Adrien does a little of that too but in a different way? And less? So yeah?

_6:15 PM_

Lady Luck glared at Lady Wifi in astonishment. “How did you…?” She quickly leaned out of the way of an oncoming icon from the akuma. Her blue eyes narrowed.

Chat frowns, and as he jumps away from an icon, he stares at the phones on the tables with intent. Before anyone else could react, he snatched one and slammed it down on the ground with as much force as he could muster. He looked up at Lady Luck with a fierce expression, and she immediately knew what he was saying.

_Break the phones, and she’ll have nowhere to go._

Of course, Lady Wifi had noticed this, and was now sporting an expression of pure outrage. “Did you just break one of my _phones?_ ” Chat raised a brow, the corner of his mouth raising slightly.

“Perhaps.” Lady Luck took this opportunity to smash another one with her yo-yo. As Lady Wifi whipped around to face her, Lady Luck grinned.

“I don’t think all these could possibly be yours, Wifi.” Chat threw one in Lady Luck’s direction, and she smacked it out of the air into the ground with one whip of her yo-yo. It was unnecessary, but entertaining to show off. “And I don’t think you’ll want them after we’re done.”

Lady Wifi’s face contorted into something very, very ugly. It almost frightened Lady Luck for a second. Before she could do anything, Lady Wifi shoved Lady Luck into the nearby kitchen, and she slammed the back of her head into the ridge of a stove. She groaned a little as her vision… doubled. Her ears felt plugged, and she could faintly hear yelling as an icon was flung onto the doors.

Then, Lady Wifi turned to face her. She smiled as she came close to Lady Luck’s face, her four brown eyes glittering with malice. “You know, I could trap you where you are,” she proclaimed loudly, as Lady Luck gazed at her with slight confusion. “However, I don’t think you’re aware enough for me to worry about you moving around!”

Pulling her phone out, Lady Wifi turned it towards a corner and swiped across it. An icon with a camera popped out, and Lady Luck had a brief thought that _huh, that’s not good._ Lady Wifi started speaking to the camera, her arms out gesturing.

Lady Luck felt like she could pass out, really. Would it be that bad? Afterall, she was trapped anyways… _No,_ she thought drowsily, as she tried to push herself upwards. _I refuse to give up._ Before she could get too far, in any case, Lady Wifi turned around and shoved her back down. She then grabbed the sides of her mask, and _yanked._

It really freaking hurt. “Stooooooop,” Lady Luck drawled, trying to push her away. Lady Wifi looked confused, and released her face before grabbing her chin.

She got very close to Lady Luck’s face, and bit out, “Why won’t your mask come off? What, did you super-glue it on or something? Super-glue for a super-hero?” Lady Luck shrugged.

“I dunnooooooo…” Lady Wifi paused for a moment, a glow coming over her face. She then grinned. “Well, that’s easy enough.”

She then started to reach for Lady Luck’s earlobes, until a pot flew out of nowhere and striked her in the head. She fell to the ground groaning as a black blur flashed in front of Lady Luck. She could feel someone picking her up, whispering something to her. Warmth.

It felt… comforting.

_6:27 PM_

Félix didn’t know _what_ happened to Lady Luck to incapacitate her like this, but he was thinking it was something bad. She nearly had her earrings stolen, for God’s sake! Meanwhile, Lady Wifi was lying on the ground, holding her head and moaning. He really nailed her in the head, he noted. Hell, he could see it starting to swell up a little.

He was pretty damn lucky that he knew the ins-and-outs of the hotel, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have made it in time.

He looked at Lady Luck, who he was holding in his arms. “Can you use your power-thing?” he whispered, slightly anxious. She only smiled a little and nuzzled into him. He groaned.

Looks like the first day on the job, he was working alone.

He briefly placed her back on the ground (despite her moaning and reluctance to let go—what was her deal, anyways?), and he turned to face Lady Wifi. Near her, her phone lay on the ground, not a shatter to be seen. He picked it up in curiosity. “Are you going to work for me?” He asked it, clicking the on button.

Almost immediately, he was shown a blank purple screen. He turned it towards the locked doors, and the lock sign popped up. Raising a brow, he x-ed it out with his finger, and the lock disappeared. “Interesting.” Kicking Lady Wifi to make sure she didn’t get up—look, odds were she was going to be fine, considering what happened with Lady Luck’s super power and Stoneheart—he stepped out into the restaurant, and spotted a booth on the far end of the area.

He gently picked Lady Luck back up, who giggled a little. It was kind of… uncomfortable, if he was being honest, but she wasn’t hard to carry. He took her over to the booth, and placed her in a laying-down position. “I’m going to need you soon, but you can rest for a second,” he said, glancing behind him to check for Lady Wifi.

After all, just because he had her phone didn’t mean that she couldn’t kick his ass.

Then again…

He walked over to the kitchen, and carefully placed Lady Wifi against the stove in a sitting position. He swiped against the phone, and placed pause signs onto her hands. Then, onto her feet, in case she decided to kick him. She gazed at him in a questioning way.

“Whadoya wanttt, kitty-chat?” She was obviously dazed.

He glared into her eyes. “Who are you working for?”

She laughed a little. “I dunno, a moth-man?” He crossed his arms.

“Do you know where the moth-man is?”

She shrugged to the best of her ability. “Uh dunnoooo.”

He sighed. “Well, that was a waste of my time and effort.” He could’ve asked for more info—he knew he could. However, he had a possibly-unconscious Lady Luck on his hands, and if she didn’t come to her senses, he would have to wait an unknown amount of time to take care of the akuma.

He peered upwards, suddenly noticing the camera in the corner. His eyes widened. _Merde._ He quickly pulled out the phone, fumbling a little as he went, and x-ed it out.

He didn’t know why he felt that urgent, he just… felt like it was probably a good idea. Who knows who was watching?

Then, he heard them.

_Sirens._

He rushed over to the booth where Lady Luck was lying, and shook her awake. “Wake up!” She groaned a little, her blue eyes gazing at him through tiny slits. “You need to use your special powers, and fast.”

“ _Lucky Charmmm,_ ” she grumbled, throwing her yo-yo in the air. A microwave popped out of nowhere, and Félix quickly grabbed it before it could smack her in the face.

He then slammed it on top of the phone. And again. And again, until it finally popped a black butterfly out. “Alright, now do your other thing!” _And hopefully you’ll feel better then,_ he thought, slightly annoyed.

“Whathing?” His eyes practically bulged out of his skull.

He then took a wild gamble. He snatched the yo-yo from her hands, and threw it out towards the butterfly. Fortunately, it felt like the yo-yo had a mind of its own, because it pulled itself at the butterfly and captured it.

“Guess Lady Luck doesn’t have to use it,” he noted, looking at the closed-up yo-yo. “Convenient.” He pressed the center of it, and it opened up, allowing a white butterfly to flutter away.

Then, he glanced at the garish red-and-black polka-dot microwave. “I’m assuming she has to do this one.” He looked over to see that the top of Lady Luck was falling off of the booth and sliding onto the floor, with one of her pigtails stuck underneath her. Her face was one of general discomfort, so he carefully picked her up and pulled her pigtail out from under her.

Looking at her sideways, he whispered, “You have to throw it in the air.” She grunted. “The microwave. And then yell ‘Miraculous Ladybug’. You’ll feel all better then, okay?” Another grunt. _Maybe I can do that thing that those people with puppets do? Mime? Is that it?_ He pulled her up, and she groaned in annoyance.

He put the microwave in her lap on top of her hands, and looked her in the eyes. “Remember: ‘Miraculous Ladybug’.” She rolled her eyes, though in sarcasm or exhaustion, he wasn’t sure.

Félix watched her slowly lift in the air, and mumble something. Then, the object disappeared. Ladybugs swarmed out of nowhere, making the phones disappear, covering Lady Luck for a second before her eyes widened.

“What—what on—”

“You suffered a head injury, and were mostly struggling,” he explained. She paled.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, are you alright? That was your first—I don’t know if _last_ —time out, and oh geez, I suck…” He raised a brow.

“No, you don’t. You just got some bad luck there.” _Probably from me,_ he thought. She touched her head gingerly, before sighing.

“Alright, well, I’ve got to head out. Did you use your power? At all?” She started to slowly get up.

“No. I, uh, didn’t—”

“Good,” she said, cutting him off. She reached at her side, and momentarily freaked out. “Wait, where’s my yo-yo?” She relaxed a little as he held it out to her. “Ah, thanks.”

Before she could leave, though, he grabbed her wrist. She raised a brow. “Uh?”

He took in a deep breath. “I meant what I said during the fight. How about a date?” She blanched.

“Um, no. Bye.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, and since you haven’t used your power, can you go ahead and take care of Allllllady Wifi? Okaythanksbye!” With that, she left.

He sighed. Well, that was worth a shot.

“Chat Noir! It’s so good to see you again!” He jumped at the sound of the akumatized girl’s voice, and turned to face a plaid-wearing teenager. She smiled.

Before she could say anything else, though, Félix left the room. And headed to the roof. And started heading home. _I’m not Chat Noir—that’s not my problem,_ he thought.

_8:06 PM_

“Bridgette! You’re okay!” Marinette embraced her sister as soon as she leapt into the bedroom. She had left the top open just for her, and while a couple of bugs had snuck in there (moths, mosquitoes, the works), she hadn’t dared to close it.

When Marinette released Bridgette, though, she immediately saw a confused look on her face. “What, what’s wrong?”

“That wasn’t Chat Noir. Who was he?” Bridgette began to pace.

“Um, what?” Marinette laughed a little, confused. “What do you mean, that wasn’t Chat Noir?”

Bridgette pounded her fist into her palm. “I mean, that wasn’t Chat Noir.” She bit her lip. “It was… someone else. Someone who said they knew him, but it wasn’t him. I didn’t even ask for their real name.”

“Their real name? Bridgette, I’m not gonna lie, but, uh, I’m very confused!”

Bridgette’s blue eyes burned into hers. “Chat Noir wasn’t there tonight. Someone else was. And he asked me on a _date._ ” Marinette’s mouth gaped wide open.

“He _what?_ ” Bridgette nodded emphatically.

“Yup! He did! He asked me on a date, and I said no!” She scowled. “Whoever he is, he’s kind of a creep.”

Marinette sighed. “Well, at least you’re safe?” She lit up for a second as she raced to her desk. “I made something for you!” She held up a bright red-and-black-spotted two-piece pajama. They were long-sleeved and pants, which was what most of Bridgette’s pajamas consisted of. “Plus…” Marinette stuck her hand into the side of the pants. “ _Pockets!_ ”

Bridgette grinned. “I love them, Marinette! I’ll wear them tonight.” Marinette grinned and squealed giddily as she handed them over, practically bouncing. Bridgette laughed a little.

Well, the Chat Noir business was something to worry about for another day. She wasn’t going to think about it for now.

Instead, she was going to enjoy her time with her sister.

_8:45 PM_

“You _left her in the hotel?_ ” Adrien asked with incredulity. Plagg was laughing as they flew through the air, a piece of camembert cheese in their arms.

Félix groaned as he pulled his black tank over his head. “Oh, calm down. It wasn’t like I left her in the middle of nowhere. She was going to be fine.”

“Did you even talk to her?” Félix looked up at him with a ‘ _really_ ’ look on his face. “Oh, come on, Fé!”

As Plagg casually floated next to Adrien, they grinned at him. “Oh yeah, it was great! You should’ve seen when Lady Luck realized it wasn’t you! She kicked his ass!” Félix glared at them stonily. “Whaaaat? It’s true!”

“For your _information_ , she didn’t ‘kick my ass’, as you say,” Félix growled, grabbing a face mask. “She simply… knocked me over.”

“Yeah! Flat on your back, too!” Plagg shoved the cheese into their mouth. “Listen, kid, you totally got owned. Is that the right word? Owned? Eh, whatever. Either way, it was funny.” Adrien raised a brow as he started brushing his teeth. “And then, of course, your asking her out! _Twice!_ ” Adrien coughed violently, having accidentally inhaled his toothpaste in his mouth.

“You did _what?_ ” Félix rolled his eyes. “You just met her!”

“I’m _desperate,_ Adrien. And I’ll do what I have to to get this god-forsaken ring off my finger,” he said lowly, holding up his hand.

Adrien spat his toothpaste out, and quickly rinsed his mouth. “Yeah, you _sound_ desperate. First day and you already asked her out?” He sighed. “Everyone knows that it takes two.”

Félix and Plagg stared at him for a while. Félix spoke up before Plagg could. “You watch too much anime. You need some friends or something.”

Adrien laughed as he walked over to his bed. “I do have friends! Or at least, I’m making them!” He smirked as he looked at Félix’s mask-covered face. “At least I’m not cold to the friendliest girl in class!”

Félix groaned. “Please, she and that blonde, pink-wearing girl are competing for that. I swear, they’re giving me diabetes with how sweet they are.”

“Oh? And was it sweet when Bridgette managed to scare off Chloé?”

Félix’s eyes widened before he remembered he had a face-mask on. “See? Exactly, one would have to be so sweet to frighten Chloé, because there’s simply no other way.” Adrien laughed.

“I mean, you could always be cold to her at every moment you get. Might scare her off then.” Félix rolled his eyes. Then, he looked at his mask in the mirror. “Oh gosh, I just realized I put this on before washing my hands. I put it on with my _hands!_ ” The mask cracked a little as he frowned.

“You’ll be fine, Fé. You just need to… I don’t know, stop frowning so much.” Félix shot him a dirty look.

“I don’t frown a lot.” Adrien raised a brow at his statement.

“Yeah, okay. Goodnight, Félix.”

“No, really, I don’t.”

“ _Goodnight, Félix._ ”

“…”

“Goodnight, Adrien.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite quarantine, inspiration has been few and far in between. Hope y'all are staying safe and social distancing! Don't forget to wash your hands for twenty seconds (Might I recommend the start of Black Parade for your twenty second song sequence), and to stay six feet apart from people (if you're seeing anyone at all)!
> 
> I'm assuming no one ~truly~ missed me updating, but if you did, I appreciate it. I really enjoy writing this, but I know that it's slow and lengthy, and may not be as fun to read as others. I just hope I'm not the only one enjoying where this is going, that's all! :'D
> 
> Again, stay safe! Thinking of all of you who may be out there.


	9. Curiosity Part 1 (Post-Lady Wifi)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Félix has some thoughts about Lady Luck.

Félix lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. A look at the alarm-clock would tell him that it was the middle of the night, but he didn’t need to look to know it. Adrien snored loudly, disturbing any sense of tranquility in the room.

He thought of dark hair… blue eyes… he thought of ladybugs.

He thought… of _her._

“Lady Luck, who are you?” He whispered. It was a question unheard by anybody.

“She’s a human, Félix.” Félix nearly shouted at Plagg popping out, but he managed to remain quiet. Plagg’s green eyes glittered in the dark, reflecting the moonlight shimmering in the room. “Geez, kid, you gonna sleep or what?”

“Or what,” Félix muttered. He turned to his side, ignoring the tiny cat floating near him. However, that tiny cat decided to float in front of him, curiosity in their expression.

“Félix, I know you’re probably thinking of _her_ right now, because she turned you down and you’re probably not used to rejection—”

“What? No, that’s not the reason why,” Félix said abruptly, sitting up in his bed. Plagg sat down in his lap, their head tilting to the side. “It’s not because I was rejected, Plagg. God knows I’ve had plenty of that… no, it’s because she seemed… real.”

“Real?”

“Yeah. Like, a real person. Not someone keeping a secret mask on all the time—I mean, yes, we’re wearing masks, but—you know what I mean. She wasn’t… playing a different person.” He frowned. “I mean, it didn’t feel like she was. She could be excellent at it.”

Plagg shrugged. “I dunno, kid.” They floated over to Félix’s chest and pushed him down. “What I do know, though, is that you’re going to be exhausted in the morning if you think anymore about it. Trust me. Just put it out of your mind, and go to sleep.”

Félix curled his lip in frustration as Plagg pulled the blankets further up, covering his shoulder. “But—”

“Go to sleep, Félix. She’s not going anywhere.”

A sigh.

His eyes close.

A dreamless sleep ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, you read that right. This is Part 1 of Post-Lady Wifi!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy this little bit, and let me know what you think! If any errors are spotted, feel free to bring them up!
> 
> (Also, if it sounds a little odd at some points... it's because I'm pretty sure I wrote this in the middle of the night, when I was half-asleep, so yeah! Sorry!)


	10. Curiosity Part 2 (Post-Lady Wifi)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning. A little bit of publicity can hurt.

_Septembre 5th_

_7:53 AM_

As the twins walked to school, Bridgette informed Marinette about all that had happened (that she could remember) during Lady Wifi’s fight.

Marinette laughed. “As terrible as that all is, it’s kind of funny in hindsight.” Bridgette gave her an astonished face.

“What do you mean, it’s funny? He didn’t have his _baton!_ ” Marinette smirked. “He didn’t have a weapon to fight her with, I mean, I think that’s pretty awful—”

“Hey, guys.” Bridgette and Marinette looked up in surprise, spotting Alya standing in front of them sheepishly. It was kind of an odd sight, since Alya had been very… not shy for the past couple days. But here she was, wringing her hands and looking anywhere but in their eyes.

“Hey, Alya! You, uh, you okay?” Marinette smiled at her awkwardly. Alya’s eyes widened.

“Oh, yeah! I’m fine. I just, uh, I’m still suspended and all that, but, uh, that doesn’t mean I can’t come outside of the school!” Bridgette sighed.

“I think Marinette meant after your akumatization.” Alya winced at that, her shoulders raising a little. “We were really worried about you, and being the second person—”

“Did it hurt?” Marinette blurted out. Alya bit her bottom lip awkwardly.

“Well, uh, no? I don’t know, I don’t remember much of what happened.” Alya rubbed her arm. “I heard that I supposedly gave Ladybug a concussion.” Bridgette’s eyes widened.

“Wait, what?” Marinette looked at Bridgette with a strange intensity.

“I told you that, _remember_ , Bridgette?” Bridgette pretended to remember, even though that most _certainly_ wasn’t mentioned. It was _not mentioned that she got a concussion._ “And anyways, it all got better in the end! I’m sure she’s fine now, after her super-power thing!” _No wonder I had a headache all day yesterday,_ she thought, slightly annoyed. Guess ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ didn’t take all the pain away.

As Marinette and Alya continued chatting towards the stairs of the school, Bridgette thought a little about yesterday. _What did that…_ guy _, mean that he and Chat Noir were having troubles?_ After all, it had only been the second battle and Bridgette already had a new partner… who was temporary, it seemed. She hoped.

She wasn’t sure how well she actually worked with him. After all, he asked about a _date_ in the middle of a battle. Probably the worst timing in the history of timings.

“He didn’t even give me a name,” she muttered, staring at the ground. Then, she abruptly knocked into someone, and fell to the ground. Her head banged against the concrete briefly, and she saw stars for a second.

“Bridgette! Are you okay?” Marinette came running over, reaching out her hands to help her up. Bridgette groaned a little.

She looked up to see who the cause was, annoyed. There was Félix, staring down with slight discomfort. With the sun behind him, he could almost look like a hero.

Except for the fact that he hadn’t apologized, nor was he helping her up.

“Félix, you’re back from being sick!” She said anyways, as Marinette pulled her up from the ground. He nodded.

“Yes, my doctor said that I had phantom symptoms.”

“Phantom symptoms?”

“Yes. It means I was imagining them.” He straightened his tie a little. Then, he glanced over at Alya, who was gazing at them in curiosity. “Aren’t you suspended?”

She scoffed. “Well, nice to see you too, Félix.” Alya sighed as she looked at Bridgette and Marinette. “Look, I’m gonna head back home and… I don’t know what I’m gonna do yet, but, uh, I’ll keep you girls updated, ‘kay?” She smiled sadly. As Alya walked away, Bridgette heard a laugh.

Bridgette whipped around to see Chloé smirking. “Such a shame that Césaire got in trouble, huh?” Chloé said this with a malicious tone of voice, and Bridgette saw Marinette shrinking from the corner of her eye. Bridgette was aware that Marinette had a very bad history of being bullied by Chloé, and in all sincerity, it really pissed her off.

“Yeah, Chloé, it is a shame,” Bridgette said, gritting her teeth in a forced smile. Chloé raised a brow, almost in a ‘ _are you challenging me_ ’ way. “I bet you would know nothing about that, though!”

Before either of the girls could react anymore, Adrien walked up with a bright smile on his face. “Hi, Bridgette! Marinette!” Chloé squealed and launched herself at him, wrapping him in a tight hug.

“Hi, Adrikins!” Adrien gasped a little, until Chloé let him go. “Are you ready for class today? I figured the two of us could _sit together._ ”

Before she could drag him, he shrugged out of her grasp. “Actually…” He rubbed his head awkwardly. “I wanted to get to know some of the boys in class. You know, I only really know Félix.”

Chloé gasped loudly. “But you don’t want to sit next to _moi?_ ” Adrien blinked.

“Uh…”

Before he could try to defend himself any further, Félix walked up next to him, holding a book. He didn’t make any eye-contact as he said, “Miss Bourgeois, Adrien does not have to sit with you. But,” he said, snapping his book closed, “If you are insisting that an Agreste sits with you, I can give you the pleasure of my presence.” If Bridgette didn’t know any better, he sounded… sarcastic. Then again, that didn’t seem that odd for Félix.

Chloé fake-gagged. “Yeah, right. I’d rather sit with Dupain-Cheng before I sat with you, Félix.”

“Which one?”

“Bridgette Dupain-Cheng, of course. I’d rather die before sitting with _her,_ ” Chloé said pointedly as she glared at Marinette. Marinette cowered a little behind her sister, who was growing more and more furious by the second.

“Oh?” Bridgette asked, seething. “And what, exactly, is so wrong with my sister?”

Chloé scoffs. “Isn’t it obvious? Everything. You of all people should know, Bridgette.” Félix flicked her in the head. “Hey, what was _that_ for?”

“Being rude. You are going to be late, Miss Bourgeois. As are you, Adrien, if we do not get going,” Félix said, pulling Adrien by the hand inside the building.

_8:10 AM_

If there was one thing that Adrien was (normally) good at, it was being observant. Given enough information, he could make very good educated guesses. So, when he saw that Chloé was shooting nasty looks at Bridgette (who could’ve been giving them right back), he knew he should probably intervene before it got worse.

Then, of course, he had a really _great_ time of trying to do good things for himself. After all, heaven forbid he ever be able to say ‘no’ to Chloé. Thank god that Félix was there, always teaching him the ways of… yeah, he wasn’t really sure what. But Félix was there!

The only thing he really wished? Was that Félix was a little nicer to everyone. Part of the problem was probably his constant need to please Father (he thinks), which would make him feel the need to be stiff as all get out. Father refused to see them in any other state than perfection—at least, Adrien was pretty sure that’s how Félix felt.

Adrien was pretty sure Father wasn’t all that bad. Ever since they lost Mom about a year ago, he’d become much more closed off. While he never _was_ that open in the first place, he felt… more there. Nowadays, he was always preoccupied with his work, and Adrien was sucked into it more often than not. Félix did a lot of modelling himself, although it was for less casual shoots.

And now, of course, Félix was stuck with the ring, which probably added to the stress he had.

Not that Félix would ever tell him, of course.

“Félix, are you alright? Did everything go okay with…?” Adrien asked tentatively. Félix slowly came to a halt as they walked outside the classroom door.

He sighed, and rubbed his hand over his face. “Yeah. Just… getting the ring off may take longer than we anticipated.” He looked down at it with slight annoyance. “Turns out, I have to kiss Lady Luck. And, not only that, but apparently she has to be in love with me for it to work.” Adrien snickered a little.

“Really?” Félix looked at Adrien.

“Yes, really. Why is this so funny to you?”

Adrien smiled. “Just… trying to imagine you flirting with someone.”

Félix rolled his eyes as he opened the door. “It can be done.” As the door opened, he winced at a bright flash of light and loud voices. “What on earth…”

“ _Mr. Bruel, over here!_ ”

“ _Ivan, here!_ ”

“ _Mr. Bruel, should Paris worry about you attacking again?_ ”

“ _What are your thoughts on the latest monster attack, Mr. Bruel_?”

“ _Is that your girlfriend?_ ”

“ _Are you Stoneheart, or is Stoneheart you?_ ”

Adrien frowned. Félix and he had had their fair share of paparazzi, being the twin sons of multi-millionaire Gabriel Agreste, but that didn’t mean they put up with them. Then again, Félix did a particularly great job of evading them…

As the twins walked into the room, they saw a swarm of reporters around Ivan Bruel, a large boy who had been the first akuma. He obviously looked very uncomfortable, and near him was Mylène, who was holding his hand and rubbing it in an attempt to keep him calm.

It didn’t help that a bunch of people were shoving microphones into his face at every second.

In that moment, Adrien made a quick decision.

“Hey, Ivan!” Adrien called, waving and smiling at him. A few of the reporters turned around and gasped, spotting the twins at the entrance. Within a minute, they were surrounded, leaving Ivan to take deep breaths with maybe one or two reporters left over.

If he could do something to help someone else, he was going to.

“ _What’s your association with the monster, Stoneheart?_ ” One of the reporters shouted at them.

Adrien flashed a wide, model smile. “Stoneheart, what you call a monster, doesn’t exist. If you are referring to Ivan, then we are friends.” Félix scowled at Adrien as one of the reporters got a little closer to him.

Félix folds his arms. “I have no association with either Stoneheart or Ivan Bruel,” he stated flatly.

“ _Adrien Agreste, has Gabriel Agreste taken any action towards the sudden attacks towards Paris?_ ”

Adrien looked confused for a second, and Félix abruptly said, “No comment.” He looked around with blatant scorn. “Did any of you get permission to come into this school?” He smiled venomously. “Because, if not, I am afraid I will have to get law enforcement involved.” The reporters suddenly grew quiet.

Félix moved out of the way as the annoyed reporters filed out of the classroom. The only one that was left behind was one talking to Ivan. “And you don’t remember anything?” She asked, her brown eyes wide with curiosity.

“Not a thing. It’s all a blur in my head,” Ivan answered cautiously, his grey eyes flickering over at Félix and Adrien.

The woman smiled. “Thank you for your time, Ivan. I hope you stay safe. And don’t forget to watch my news channel. We’ll make sure that everyone knows the truth behind the matter.” She turned around to see Félix standing with his hands on his hips.

Smiling, she walked over, her hand out. “Hello, my name is Nadja Chamack.” Félix looked at it for a second, before looking at her.

“I know who you are.” Her eyes darted around awkwardly before she slowly lowered her arm. Adrien smiled at her gently.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Chamack.” She nodded at him in acknowledgment.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Agreste.” Adrien laughed.

“You can just call me Adrien, Ms. Chamack. Only our father goes by Mr. Agreste,” he explained, his green eyes glimmering with good humor. She chuckled.

“Alright, Adrien then. Well, it was good getting to meet you two. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to talk to you two more in the future!” She walked out the door, and the classroom grew quiet.

“Hopefully, you do not,” Félix grumbled to himself. Adrien elbowed him. “What?”

“You didn’t have to be so rude,” Adrien said.

Félix’s blue eyes widened. “Rude? If anything, I was polite as necessary.” Adrien sighed. Then, he glanced over at Ivan, who was being hugged by Mylène. “It wasn’t nice of them to bug you about that,” Mylène said irritably. “Stoneheart is _not_ who you are.”

Ivan looked down at his desk. “But what if it is?”

Félix rolled his eyes as he continued back to his seat. Adrien could tell he really could care less about the previously-akumatized student. Perhaps, since he wasn’t fighting him, it didn’t feel very… personal. But to Adrien, seeing the teenager looking so hurt. He walked over to Ivan, giving a genuine smile.

“Ivan, Mylène is right. Don’t let what those reporters say to get to you!” Ivan smiled, although it looked like more of a grimace than anything.

“But… they’re kind of right, you know? I am big and scary, and I… I…” He slowly drifted off, his brows furrowed. “What if I _do_ transform back? What if Stoneheart is all I _ever am?_ ”

“What if?” Adrien turned to see the other pair of twins in the class enter the room. Bridgette blinked as she looked past Adrien to Ivan. She smiled brightly. “What if you don’t? It hasn’t happened again--”

“It did, though!” Ivan slammed his hands onto the desk as he stood up. “I got akumatized, I got akumatized _twice!_ ” He sighs, as he sinks back into his seat. Mylène frowned. “I… I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. It’s scary.”

“I didn’t know it was bothering you this badly, Ivan,” Bridgette said, lowering her gaze to the floor. She almost looked guilty. “Have you talked to your parents about it?”

Ivan shook his head. “Not really. They haven’t really brought it up. I think they might be avoiding me, really.” Adrien winced; he definitely knew a thing or two about that!

“I’m sure… I’m sure they’re just trying to figure out how to work through this with you,” Adrien tried to say. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure what Ivan’s parents were thinking. It wouldn’t be fair to Ivan if they were going out of their way to ignore him just because he was akumatized. However…

No, Adrien wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all are staying safe and enjoying the story! I know it's a little slow, but it's kind of necessary for how I'm planning out this story.
> 
> Quick question: Would anyone who is reading this be interested in a Q&A? Let me know in the comments if y'all are!
> 
> EDIT: Fixed Nadja's name from Nadya.


	11. Loneliness (Post-Lady Wifi)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridgette misses her friends.

_Septembre 9 th_

_7:05 PM_

Bridgette knew that Sabine and Tom were waiting on her for dinner. She knew Marinette was probably standing outside the bathroom, waiting for her to come out… or for her to let her in.

She sat on the toilet seat, staring at her phone. A blank screen stared back at her, her face hidden in the reflection if she looked just right. She sighed, placing the phone in her lap and shutting her eyes.

“ _Bridgette?_ ” Marinette called in again, softly. Her voice was muffled through the door, but Bridgette could hear her with the silence. “ _Bridgette, dinner… dinner will get cold. Would you like to come eat?_ ”

A sigh. “Marinette, please just go eat with Tom and Sabine. I’ll eat later.” A little bit of quiet. “I promise I’ll eat later, I just… I need some time, okay?”

More quiet.

“…”

“… _Alright, Bridgette. Just know… if you need to talk, please let me know, okay?_ ” Bridgette nodded, despite being aware that her twin couldn’t see her.

After a few minutes of listening to silence, Bridgette opened her eyes to look at her phone.

…She hadn’t talked to them since she had moved in with the Dupain-Chengs.

She clicked the on-button, and pressed the call app. Then, she looked through her contacts.

_Gina_

_Tom_

_Sabine_

_Marinette_

_Allan_

_Allegra_

_Claude_

_Alya_

She frowned. _Do I really want to bother them? I’m sure they’re fine,_ she thought, her finger hovering over the different contacts. Her first thought was to reach out to Allan—he was always a sweetheart, and legit tried to adopt her once. Well, okay, he tried to adopt each of them at one point, but he probably made the most effort with her.

But… he was probably busy. Probably watching a movie with his parents, or something.

Perhaps Allegra would be available? The kind blonde was always able to talk before… but she might have instrument-practice, or prayers, or dinner, or _something…_

Then, Claude?

Maybe Claude.

She scrunched her face as she forced her finger to press his contact to call. She raised her phone to her ear, shaking.

“ _…Hello?_ ” She lit up.

“Claude, it’s—”

“ _Hello?_ ”

A frown overtook her face. “Claude, can you hear me?”

“ _Hello, are you there?_ ” Then, a snort. “ _Just kidding, this is my voicemail. Leave a message, and I’ll_ maybe _get back to you._ ” She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. That was just so… him. Of course he would do that.

The beep went off.

“Hey, Claude. It’s Bridgy. Just… was missing you and the gang, and, and I just wanted to reach out,” she said, smiling bitterly. “I know, it’s been a while and I haven’t really taken the time to call any of you, but…” She sighed. “It’s been a lot.” She briefly lit up. “You know, two students in my new school have gotten akumatized! _Two!_ How wild is that!”

She sighed again, more deeply. “Hey, listen, if you can, just… get back to me? I really… I really, _really_ want to talk to all of you again. Or, hey, maybe we could all hang out! I don’t know, somethi—”

The voicemail machine beeped. She froze, her breath caught. Just like that, it was over.

Just like that.

She didn’t realize she was crying until she felt something drop on her hand. Something wet. And then, she was sobbing, sliding to the floor and wrapping her arms around her legs. Her nose grew more and more stuffed, and she couldn’t breathe, oh _God she couldn’t breathe_ , and it was tight, and she couldn’t breathe, and she couldn’t stop crying, why _couldn’t she stop crying? Why couldn’t she stop?_

Then, her phone started ringing. Without even checking the ID, she answered the phone.

“ _Bridgy, you there?_ ” She let out a slightly water-logged chuckle.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Double update! Expect us to be back to our regular programming the next chapter!
> 
> Reminder of last chapter's question: Would anyone be interested in a Q&A? Let me know in the comments!
> 
> Stay safe and healthy, y'all!


	12. Reflekta (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations for picture day.

_Septembre 14 th_

_7:13 AM_

Adrien stood in front of his mirror. He wasn’t sure whether he should gel his hair today or not—after all, it was picture day! His _first one!_ It was a very, _very_ big deal to him, and it was… kind of a shame that it wasn’t such to Father.

He gazed over himself, a little annoyed at the outfit that Félix had pulled out. It wasn’t really his style—a lot more formal than usual, but it matched his eyes, he guessed. It was a light green dress-shirt with a black jacket and pants, along with black dress-shoes. A black tie was loose around his neck. If he had even the tiniest bit of free will from Félix, he would ditch the jacket (and maybe the tie) at home, roll up his sleeves, and wear sneakers. However, Félix refused to see him in anything other than a suit. _“It’s for your own good.”_

Adrien sighed, and pressed his hair back. “To gel… or not to gel.”

Félix walked past, wearing a crisp black suit with thin steel-blue pinstripes. A gray shirt was underneath his jacket, and black, glossy dress-shoes were on his feet. “Gel it. Father will see the pictures,” he cautioned, having already gelled his hair back. It was kind of an odd sight, considering his bangs were completely gone but for one simple hair-piece that dangled out in front, but Adrien didn’t say anything.

Sighing, Adrien put a large amount of gel onto his hands and started to slick his hair. Félix stood next to him, rubbing his fingers over the ring. Adrien, taking notice, turned to face him while he was gelling. “I’m sure everything will be fine,” he said in an attempt to comfort his brother. Félix gave him a dark scowl in response.

Plagg popped out from the other side of their bathroom door, grinning. “Heyyyy, look at you!” They flew over to Félix, smirking. “Look just like your daddy.”

Félix sighed. “Plagg, if you have nothing better to do than annoy me, please go and, _well_ , not.” Plagg snickered as Félix started to put on some moisturizer and primer.

To be honest, Adrien hadn’t been planning to put on makeup, but after seeing Félix, he sighed and grabbed some moisturizer for himself. As he began to rub it onto his face, Félix said, “Father decided to replace whatever photographer they had for the school with ours.” Adrien looked over at Félix with surprise.

“What, really?” Félix nodded.

“Yeah. Guess he thought that the class photo wouldn’t look too great unprofessionally done.” Adrien frowned a little, slightly confused, but shrugged, and grabbed his primer.

“I mean, I’m sure the photo wouldn’t have been that bad, but…” Adrien wouldn’t know.

He would just have to deal with yet another fantastic picture.

_7:18 AM_

Marinette grumbled in bed, her arm lying across her eyes. She could hear Bridgette moving around below, and though she had a brief thought to get up herself, she quickly squashed that underneath her warm, fuzzy, comfortable blankets.

“Marinette, you have to get up at some point,” Bridgette called, her voice more annoying than usual to Marinette’s ears. Probably because of how loud it was.

Marinette groaned. “ _But I don’ wannnnnnaaaaaa…_ ” Something small and light landed on her chest.

“Marinette, you have to get ready! Bridgette tells me today is a picture day!” Tikki’s voice was even more horrible than Bridgette’s. Marinette just wanted to sleep for a few minutes, that’s all! A few minutes! Like twenty! Just a few!

\---

Bridgette looked up at Marinette’s bunk, and sighed. _She’ll get up when she wants to, I guess,_ she thought, smiling warmly.

Then, she turned to face the mirror.

She had two outfits with her. One of them was her favorite dress: a pale blush-pink dress with a thick skirt that she got about two years ago as a gift from Allegra. It had floral lace all over it, and the back had a sheer ribbon that tied near the top. Allegra had a matching one in purple, which she looked absolutely radiant in.

She could also wear the brand new outfit that Marinette had worked on all weekend for her instead.

The one Marinette had was a little more recent Bridgette—meaning that it suited her alter-ego very well. The dress was a beautiful bright red, with a black sash around her waist. It had no sleeves, and the skirt had two layers—one sheer on the outside with some sparkles and sequins scattered throughout, and a base. Marinette made sure to inform Bridgette that the sash could come off, in case that was a concern.

While it was a beautiful dress that was sure to look radiant on Bridgette, she was a little concerned.

_“Alya was already suspecting that I could be Lady Luck,” Bridgette said, folding her arms. She looked at Marinette’s eyes through the mirror. The twin designer was looking at her sadly, and Bridgette could tell that she would love to see her in the dress for picture day. “This could seal the deal.”_

_Marinette frowned. “I know… I just, was so_ inspired _!” Marinette sighed, a sad sound that filled Bridgette with some guilt. “But if you’re that worried about your identity, then I understand.”_

_Bridgette turned to face Marinette. “It’s a matter of caution and safety… but perhaps I can get away with it?” Bridgette wasn’t all that sure, to be honest. For one thing, Alya seemed to have let the whole ‘you’re_ definitely _Ladybug’ thing go, but for another, if she was given a reason to bring it back up…_  
  


No! _she thought angrily._ Just because you decided that you wanted to wear a particular color does _not_ mean you’re Lady Luck! It just means you look great in that color! _Bridgette sighed. “Alright, I’ll see about wearing it for picture day. But I’m probably going to take the sash off.” Black and red would probably be a solid give away._

Bridgette groaned as she threw the pink dress onto Marinette’s swivel chair. “Red it is,” she huffed, as she took her pajamas off.

Today was going to be a long day.

_7:35 AM_

Adrien made faces as Félix gathered some bronzer onto a brush. “I don’t know why we need to put on so much make-up,” Adrien grumped. Félix started to contour Adrien’s face, his blue eyes focused on him.

“Adrien, you sound as if you’ve never gone to a photo-shoot before.” Félix gently swept the brush, enhancing Adrien’s cheekbones. “It’s for our own good.” Félix had already finished his own make-up, which consisted of primer, foundation, concealer, translucent powder, blush, mascara, bronzer, and an assortment of other products Adrien wasn’t even bothering to list here. Rather than looking more feminine and round, however, Félix looked sharper than ever. It didn’t help that he lined his eyes to look even colder than normal.

Félix wasn’t always so… hard-looking. He used to look a lot like Adrien, actually. However, he grew out of that very quickly—probably because despite still having Mother around for several years, he spent more time with Father.

Father… he had changed a bit since Mother’s death. Félix would argue otherwise, and he probably knew better, but from what Adrien had seen, the loving, kind man who would take the time he could to spend with his family had suddenly grown into the distant, business-enamored one he knew today. It was a rather abrupt change too—he just began to see less and less of him. And when he did, he looked tired.

So very tired.

At the beginning, Adrien made several attempts to maintain a closer relationship. He’d ask for him at dinner. He’d see if he would be busy after a photo-shoot. Eventually, Félix managed to discourage him from it.

_“Adrien, it’s not happening.” Félix glared at him coldly. Adrien had just asked Nathalie about asking Father to join them at the dinner-table, when Félix made his loud proclamation._

_Adrien didn’t meet his eyes. Instead, he stared down at his plate. It was still untouched, because he was hoping… for once his father would be interested in eating with him. Both him_ and _Félix. Instead of being stuck, alone in his office. Working, without a care in the world for anyone else._

_He didn’t even realize he was crying until his brother was wrapping him in a hug and shushing him comfortingly._

Félix frowned. “You’re thinking about something. What?” Adrien sighed as Félix closed the bronzer pack and put the brush down.

“Nothing. Just… Father.” Adrien stared at his face in the mirror, into his bright green eyes that reminded him of his mother. Félix had gotten Father’s steely blue ones… and while he would never say it to Father’s face, he absolutely despised it. _“Why can’t I look more like Mother like you do?” Félix complained to Adrien._ Adrien sighed. “I know he cares… Somewhere he does.”

Félix stared at him in the mirror. “If he does, he does very badly at showing it,” Félix muttered. He opened up the blush, and began to rub a brush into it very carefully.

_7:44 AM_

Marinette stood in front of Bridgette in a pale pink pleated skirt, with a thick, big, tan sweater tucked into it. Around her neck was a silver mirror necklace, which matched a pair of tiny silver hoops in her ears. She had her hair pulled back in her usual pigtails, but with some pink scrunchies holding them instead of her red bands. Her shoes were black hi-tops.

Marinette turned around, spinning in the skirt. “Well? What do you think?” Bridgette grinned.

“You look amazing, Marinette!” Marinette had been very pleased to see Bridgette wearing the red dress, although she subtly hid that behind a question of why she wasn’t wearing her friend’s. Subtly. Definitely. Bridgette definitely couldn’t tell that she was happy about her wearing the dress. Well, wait, no, she knew, just—it was fine. Everything was perfect.

Bridgette had her hair also in pigtails. She asked for Marinette’s help, due to deciding to curl her ends and her framing strands at the sides of her face. It made her look much more different than Marinette, who had her hair stay naturally straight. Marinette briefly mentioned red ribbons, but Bridgette immediately shot that down… which unfortunately made sense.

Bridgette actually looked like she was thinking about that right now. “You know, if someone looks at me the right way,” Bridgette started, before Marinette interrupted.

“Then I could claim I’m you or something. It’ll be fine—it’s a quick thing, and if you’re that worried about it, we can bring a change of clothes.” Marinette hugged her. “No one will know.”

“It’s just a color,” Bridgette whispered. Marinette nodded, her chin slightly bumping Bridgette’s shoulder.

“Exactly.”

_7:58 AM_

Rose has loved picture day for years! It was always so much fun—everyone getting dressed up, prepared for taking a picture that will be in the yearbook forever!

Rose, however, was aware that her best friend, Juleka, didn’t like it very much. Which was why she was trying to call her this morning! Buuuut, she wasn’t getting her to answer…

“Juleka, I know you’re there,” she said softly, staring at her phone with her big blue eyes. She could see her face reflected in it, but Juleka didn’t answer. Rose sighed, and turned back to her mirror in the bathroom. Originally, she was planning to wear some darker colors so that Juleka wouldn’t feel too out of place, but they really didn’t _feel_ like her! She’d rather wear some pink and white…

But she really cared about Juleka, so she placed a thin black bracelet on her wrist. It was subtle, but was like her.

She then looked at the little box she had by her.

Juleka, in Rose’s opinion, was absolutely beautiful. Her warm, light-brown eyes looked so happy when she was smiling, and while Rose was never sure she could actually dye her own hair for fear of what it would look like, Juleka _rocked_ her purple tips! And while Juleka could never understand it, she was never in the background in Rose’s eyes.

“You’re not cursed,” Rose murmured. “Not even close.”

\--

_“Please, Juleka. If you think you could ever become a model, you’re sadly mistaken,” Chloé said, smirking at the shaking tween. Juleka had been pretending to strut around the school, walking around like she would if she were a model. Chloé, being her usual horrible self, decided to show up and give some criticism. “You suck.”_

_Juleka’s bottom lip quivered. “B-b-but…” Juleka said nervously. Chloé simply scoffed._

_“My mom is the Queen of Fashion, and as her daughter, I_ know _she would_ never _hire_ you! _” She walked away, leaving Juleka behind with teary eyes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Should be weekly or every other week updates from here!
> 
> ALSO! I don’t know enough about French schools to know if what I have written in this chapter is accurate. If it is inaccurate, I apologize! So, yeah! Hope you guys enjoy the update, and are staying safe!


	13. Reflekta (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Class photos are much harder than anticipated.

_8:09 AM_

“Adrien, you have a fencing lesson after school. Félix, your ballet class is after school as well—you will be picked up five minutes after the final bell.” Adrien stared out the window, sighing. He was paying attention to what Nathalie was saying (though he couldn’t say the same for Félix), but couldn’t bring himself to look anywhere but outside. It was a really nice day out… perfect for a day in the park.

He was a little surprised he hadn’t heard about a photo shoot today, actually. If Vincent had any say in it, he probably would’ve had him in one. However, his father always scheduled the photo shoots whenever he felt like it. Once, he had to a do a photo shoot in the rain—trying to do one with someone spraying water over you with a hose apparently does not do it for him.

Thank God for umbrellas.

As they came up to the school, Adrien immediately spotted a bunch of people with cameras waiting outside. “Again?” Félix mumbled under his breath. Once they pulled up, the car was _immediately_ surrounded. Flashes went off as cameras glared into the car windows, and Adrien squinted, hiding his face a little bit. _Too close._

It was moments like these that Adrien was truly thankful for the Gorilla. While Gorilla wasn’t his real name, it described him very well. He was a large man, and very strong—which enabled him to deal with any trouble-makers quickly. Adrien observed him getting out of the car and immediately pushing people out of the way. This was not hard at all, considering how intimidating Gorilla is.

Once he had gotten them several feet away (not gone, unfortunately), he opened the door so that Adrien and Félix could get out of the car. Almost immediately, loud voices yelled questions at them. Adrien grimaced. _Is it really that bad to want to go to school like a normal kid?_ He thought, forcing a sheepish smile onto his face.

Among the reporters, he could spot Nadja Chamack. She was that one reporter that had been talking to Ivan at one point! He smiled a little more brightly at her, and waved. She grinned, waving back.

Ms. Chamack, while technically new to the news business, had already gotten her big break with the first akuma. Adrien recalled her covering it on TVi the first day of super-hero-ing. She had a great presence overall, and had lots of promise, in his opinion. Plus, she just seemed like a genuinely nice person, who wanted everyone to see the truth instead of whatever image the media wants to paint.

He’s hoping he’s right.

A lot of reporters thought that he had been smiling and waving at them, unfortunately, so they quickly took it to mean to get closer. “I swear, they have no idea of what personal boundaries are,” Félix muttered as he got closer to Adrien. Adrien sighed. The Gorilla quickly came over to the two of them and continued to push reporters out of the way as they walked towards the steps of the school. Adrien could spot Ms. Chamack hanging back from the corner of his eye, smiling in curiosity while holding a notebook and pen.

Once they got inside, Adrien and Félix were relieved to see no reporters. “Sometimes, I truly wonder if Father hires them,” Félix scowled.

Adrien shrugged. “Who knows?”

_8:11 AM_

“Why are there so many reporters in front of the school?” Marinette wondered.

Bridgette pursed her lips. There had to be at least twenty standing outside, talking to each other excitedly. Some were looking into the school, she noticed. Meanwhile, a large man shoved past them from the school doors and walked to a nice black car. “That’s weird. You think Adrien and Félix came in that car?”

Alya came running up behind them, and slung her arms around them. “Hi, girls! You ready for picture day?” Her wavy hair was back in a some-up, some-down hairstyle, while she wore pink reflective sunglasses on top. She also wore a light pink short-sleeve top, along with some darker pink pants. Marinette grinned.

“As ready as we’re gonna be!” Marinette noticed Bridgette tensing up from the corner of her eye, as Alya came around to look at them from the front.

“Bridgette, I _love_ your dress! Where’d you get it?” Bridgette blushed, as did Marinette.

“Well, actually,” Bridgette started, turning to look at Marinette, “Marinette made it for me!” Alya gasped.

“ _No!_ Wow! This is incredible, girl!” She touched the bottom of the skirt, looking in wonder. “You made this?” Marinette nodded. “ _Wow!_ ” Alya laughed a little. “Hey, maybe I’ll have to ask you for clothes sometime!”

“Heh, yeah, maybe,” Marinette said awkwardly, chuckling. The three girls started to walk into the school, and had to _casually_ get past the reporters. Which there were many.

Once they got inside, Marinette immediately rushed over to where Rose was standing, leaving Bridgette behind with Alya. “Rose, you look amazing!” The blonde girl had on a pink short-sleeve shirt that had a picture of strawberries saying “Strawberry milk”, along with a pink-and-orange plaid mini-skirt. A thin black cord bracelet was wrapped around her wrist.

Rose smiled warmly. “Aww, thank you, Marinette! Your sweater is so _cute!_ ” She suddenly lit up. “Oh! Marinette, guess what I brought with me?”

Marinette raised a brow, confused. “What?”

She pulls a medium-sized book out from her bag. Marinette lets out a tiny groan. “Our old yearbook from the first year we were here!” She opens it up to a page, and Marinette grimaces a little. Mama and Papa had a terrible habit of constantly going through old pictures of her, and this yearbook was always on the cutting board when it came to that. While everyone who ever saw it thought she looked adorable, Marinette felt… awkward.

A bun was _so_ not her thing.

Rose giggled. “Look! I had a bob there, do you remember that?” Marinette grinned. Then, she paused.

“Wait, who’s that?” She points to where Max’s hand is up in the air in the picture.

“That’s… me.” Marinette looks up at that. Juleka is looking at the yearbook behind Rose, a frown on her face. She had a black dress on that had a zipper at the collar, along with lace sleeves. Ripped purple leggings were underneath it, and her black and purple hair was loose. Her extra-long bang was covering one of her eyes.

“Oh no! Why didn’t we get the picture retaken?” Rose said, rubbing Max’s hand fiercely as if it might magically come off.

“Because I have a photo curse,” Juleka mumbled. Rose looked at her indignantly.

“You are not _cursed,_ Juleka! I wish you would stop thinking that!”

“But I am,” Juleka said helplessly. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve never been in a good picture. Something always goes… wrong. Whether it’s a pigeon, or a hand, or some other problem, I just… can’t be in photos.” She furrows her brow. “I tried to convince my mom that I didn’t need to be in the class photo, but she forced me to.”

“Because you’re _not cursed,_ ” Rose insisted. “I’m sure the photo will go fine this time!” She got up, turned around, and gave Juleka a hug. “We’ll make sure it does,” Marinette agrees, smiling softly.

Rose released her, gasping. “Oh! I almost forgot!” She went into her bag, searching around, when she pulled out a box. “This is a gift, from me to you!” Rose held it out to Juleka, who looked surprised.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Juleka mumbled, as she took it from Rose.

“But I wanted to,” Rose said with a smile. “Open it! I hope you love it!”

Juleka opened the box and gasped. “It’s beautiful,” she said, pulling out a small… Marinette wasn’t sure _what_ it was.

“It’s that hand mirror you were looking at the other day,” Rose explained. “I know you really wanted it, but you didn’t have enough allowance, so I got it for you!” Juleka had on a small smile, staring at the hand mirror warmly. “Try it on!”

Juleka placed the bands of the hand mirror around her fingers and wrist, and opened it up, looking at it. “It’s beautiful, Rose. Thank you so much,” she said softly.

“This will hopefully be good luck for the photo,” Rose said. “No photos going awry here!”

“But what if it still doesn’t go right,” Juleka mumbled, her smile dropping.

“The photographer was replaced with the one my father has for our photoshoots, so I’m sure the photo will look great,” Adrien said as he walked up. Juleka squinted.

“Are you wearing make-up?” Adrien’s eyes widened. “And is your hair gelled?”

“Yes. Me and Félix usually have to do this for our photoshoots.” Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Félix walked up next to Adrien, his normal frown on his face.

“W-well, you look sex— _so handsome!_ ” Marinette blubbered. _What was_ that _?_ She thought, her eyes widening. Adrien gave an awkward smile.

“Thanks, Marinette.” Félix raised a brow at Marinette.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, was there something else you were trying to say?” Marinette shook her head brusquely. “I could have sworn that you were not saying ‘so handsome’ just now.” Marinette shook her head even harder. Embarrassment is the murderer of those who do stupid things accidentally, and Marinette was pretty sure she was about to die.

Bridgette fortunately took that moment to drop in. “Félix! Your suit looks amazing on you!” She beamed. “Gabriel brand, I’m guessing?”

Félix raised a brow. “Yes, of course I would be wearing my father’s brand.” His eyes scanned over his dress. “That dress you have is very nice craftsmanship. Who made that?”

Bridgette giggled. “My sister!” Félix peered at Marinette from the corner of his eye, the blue burning into her head.

“It is very well-made, Marinette,” Adrien complimented. “Looks almost professional!” Marinette blushed.

“Th-thank you, Adrien!”

_11:49 AM_

“Alright, everyone, gather over here. Please get in line from tallest to shortest,” Miss Bustier said, smiling. Ivan was the tallest, so he stood closest to the risers. Next was Kim, followed by Félix, Alya, Nino, Adrien, Juleka, Marinette, Nathaniel, Chloé, Max, Sabrina, Bridgette, Rose, Mylène, and finally, Alix (which Kim briefly made fun of before Alix threatened to give him a black eye, and then was rebuked by Miss Bustier).

The photographer (whose name was Vincent) frowned. “Perhaps height will not work. We’ll see. Let’s try… Alright, you, you, you, you, and you. Front row,” he said, gesturing at Max, Alix, Rose, Bridgette, and Mylène. They sat down in the front row, smiling.

“Aww, look, Sabrina, they’re in the baby seats,” Chloé said with a smirk. Bridgette shot Chloé an extremely hard smile, her hands clenched into fists.

“You must be a grandma, then,” Bridgette called in a kind tone of voice. Chloé gasped, but before she could rebuke, Vincent was calling people for the back row.

“Alright, next, you, you, you, you, and you.” Vincent pointed at Nathaniel, Marinette, Alya, Sabrina, and Chloé. Alya shoved past Chloé extra hard as she stood there in shock, glancing at Adrien.

“But, sir, I should be in the middle row with Adrik—Adrien,” Chloé whined. “We’re the same height!”

Vincent rolled his eyes. “No. Go to the back row.”

Chloé stomped up to him. “Do you _know_ who my daddy is?”

Vincent raised a brow. “Is he a photographer?”

“Well, uh, no, but—"

“That’s a shame. I could really use an assistant,” Vincent said sharply. “Get in the back row, or you’ll be up front with the ‘babies’, as you so kindly put it.” Chloé scoffed and flipped her hair, but grumpily walked up to the back row.

“And you boys, get in the middle.” With that, Kim, Nino, Félix, Adrien, and Ivan walked over. Adrien smiled at Chloé awkwardly, and shrugged. “Alright, this looks good, you guys are _awesome._ ” Marinette’s eyes widened, as she noticed Juleka still standing at the side.

“Wait, sir?” Vincent looked at Marinette from behind the camera, a brow raised. “You forgot Juleka,” she said, pointing over at the shy, gawkish girl. A few more echoes of “Yeah, Juleka!” “Juleka, come over here!” followed afterwards. Vincent smacks his head, gasping.

“Well, young lady, just come over here to the group… Let’s put you… here?” Juleka walks over to Félix and Adrien, and stands between the two. Marinette looked down at Juleka, beaming.

“Now, you’ll be front and center, Juleka! No more jinxed class photos,” she exclaimed. Juleka let out a small smile.

Vincent moved back to the camera. Then, he groaned. “Something’s not working—”

“Yeah, you put me in the wrong spot,” Chloé interrupted, her blue eyes staring angrily at the photographer. He narrowed his eyes.

“No, that’s definitely correct. You’re in the perfect place. Right there.” Chloé scoffed angrily. Vincent walked over to Ivan, his eyes for a split-second showing a little bit of recognition of the boy. “You… move over there, please,” he said, pointing up at the top.

It went on like this for a few minutes. Vincent would switch Ivan out with someone, and then groan as he moved him to yet another spot. Mr. Damocles frowned. “Is there a problem?”

Vincent rubbed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter where I put him, it throws the picture out of whack… There has to be a correct position _somewhere!_ ”

Chloé, for some odd reason, thought this was a great time to start shoving at Juleka, loudly proclaiming, “This is _unacceptable!_ ” The entire class looked at her in disappointment and irritation. Meanwhile, Juleka was standing her ground, shooting daggers at the pushy blonde.

“ _Miss Bourgeois._ ” Chloé froze for a second, looking over at Miss Bustier. She melted a little at the fiery red-head’s glare. “Behave yourself.” Her tone was ice-cold, but her eyes looked like lasers would shoot out at any moment. Rare would it be that Miss Bustier would get this annoyed. Chloé, who had been trying to literally climb over Juleka, slowly pulled her leg back.

Adrien let out a smirk. “This isn’t gym class, Chloé.” Chloé gaped a little, and a few of his classmates chuckled a little.

Vincent continued to move the students around, until he finally got them in the position he wanted. “ _Perfect,_ ” he said, smiling. He got behind the camera.

Chloé’s face was burning red. “Uh, no—”

“Miss Bourgeois, Vincent has sixteen more classes to photograph. Vincent, go ahead,” Mr. Damocles interrupted.

Vincent grinned at the principal. “Say spaghetti!”

The whole class beamed (sans one very irritable Chloé, and a half-smiling Félix). “ _Spaghetti!_ ” They stood there in place, grinning at the camera, when Vincent let out a very loud sigh.

“I don’t believe this… I charged my battery last night!” Vincent started walking away. “I apologize, I have to get another battery. Nobody move!” As Vincent headed upstairs, the class started chatting with each other, much to Miss Bustier and Mr. Damocles’ dismay.

Bridgette turned to face Mylène, and was rather surprised to see her sitting there with a now slightly irritable look on her face. “Mylène, right?” Mylène looked at Bridgette, surprised.

“Yeah?” Bridgette looked at her curiously.

“You looked a little upset just now, are you okay?” Mylène sighed, as she looked over where the photographer was walking.

“…No, I’m not. He reacted a little to Ivan, that’s all.” Bridgette pursed her lips. While she was aware that Ivan didn’t take being akumatized first very well, it hit almost as hard for Mylène—probably because she (Bridgette assumed, she wasn’t sure) was dating him.

A pink-haired girl—Ellis or something—scoffed. “I mean, no offense, Mylène, but he was the first monster created.” She leaned forward onto her knees, looking at Mylène. “It only makes sense that people are gonna react a little different.” Mylène pouted angrily.

“Yes, but why? He’s just a kid, just like the rest of us,” she growled. “He’s a kid!” Ellis shrugged.

“Kid or not, the facts are the facts.” Ellis patted Mylène’s shoulder. “Hey, hopefully, it’ll fade over time. It’s just gonna be a little hard for now, y’know?” Mylène sighed.

Bridgette leaned forward a little, and made eye contact with the girl. “Ellis is right,” Bridgette agreed. The girl let out a loud laugh.

“Oh geez—my name’s Alix, not Ellis,” the pink-haired girl wheezed. “Little different!” Mylène was snickering a little bit too under her hand, which she had ever so discreetly placed to cover her mouth. Bridgette laughed a little too.

“My bad! I’m sorry, for some weird reason, I thought it was Ellis,” Bridgette apologized laughingly. Alix waved her hand.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Now you know!” The three girls looked up as Vincent walked back with the camera, grinning.

“We’re back in business!” The class started to quiet down, and Bridgette heard a little gasp as some shuffling came from behind. She turned around to see Chloé standing in the spot between Adrien and Félix. Marinette seemed to have been the one who gasped, looking… almost ticked off. Adrien looked a little annoyed himself, and Félix seemed to be completely ignoring the situation.

Marinette mumbled something under her breath. “What’d you say, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloé said loudly, giving a snooty look towards Bridgette’s twin.

Marinette’s brows furrowed. “I said, that’s Juleka’s spot,” she glowered. Chloé rolled her eyes.

“Oh, well. I guess that’s not a problem, since she isn’t here right now,” Chloé snarked. Adrien’s lip curled.

“Chloé, that’s not your spot—”

Chloé yanked him downwards, wrapping an arm around him. She almost reached an arm for Félix before dropping it and smiling at the camera. “Who _cares?_ I’m in the right spot now,” she purred.

Vincent, who seemed to have been very preoccupied with the camera, looked up. “Is there a problem?” Both Marinette and Chloé spoke at once:

“Chloé’s in Juleka’s spot—”

“Nothing’s the matter, monsieur~—”

He groaned. “Work it out. Alright, everyone say spaghetti, _for the last time._ ” Chloé grabbed Adrien’s face, forcing him to look at the camera with a very dismayed look. Marinette’s eyes widened. Right as he took the picture, Marinette lunged forward, yelling “ _Wait!_ ” as the rest of the class looked at her and Chloé. Since Marinette was on the top row, she accidentally fell forward, and Nino, Alya, Nathaniel, and Adrien (although he was slightly stuck) reached to grab her. She landed in Nino’s arms, who looked slightly red.

“Du-dudette, you alright?” He asked, a frown on his face. She nodded awkwardly, as he helped her stand back up. “That could’ve been bad!”

Marinette shrugged, her eyes still staring in Chloé’s direction. If looks could kill…

Chloé would’ve been dead ten times over.

As would the rest of the class, since Vincent was looked very, very frustrated at all of them. “Do you _want_ this to be a good picture?” He groaned, and looked over at Mr. Damocles, who sighed but shook his head. “Well, hope you all enjoy looking at this in your yearbook… _next class!_ ” Marinette’s eyes widened, and she, Bridgette, and Rose quickly got up to talk to him.

“Sir, we have to redo the photo,” Marinette said. “One of our classmates, Juleka, wasn’t in the photo.”

“She needs to be in this photo,” Rose whimpered, her blue eyes wide with concern.

“I’m sorry, but no can do,” Vincent explained. “He,” he says, pointing at Mr. Damocles, “is paying me by the hour. Unless he wants to spend more time on this photo, you kids are out of luck.” Bridgette’s eyes spark.

“Sir, how much is he paying you? Per hour, I mean.” Vincent raised a brow.

“That’s a private question.” Bridgette tilted her head a little.

“I was just… thinking about being a photographer,” Bridgette lied, looking at the ground as she rubbed her arms. “Since you are one, I figured I could ask you some questions about your job!” Marinette raised a brow, slightly confused, but didn’t comment.

Vincent sighed. “I normally get paid by my usual employer about forty-five euros an hour. I’m currently being paid for this—since this is an unprofessional, compared to what I normally do, shoot—twenty euros an hour.” Bridgette made a face.

“Well, sir, I’m sure we can pay you for an extra hour, if you’ll just let us get our friend,” Bridgette said pleadingly. “Please?” _I’ve been saving up my allowance from Sabine and Tom, I should be able to make a quick run over during lunch to grab the twenty euros,_ she thought, the gears spinning in her head.

Vincent sighed. “We’ll see, mademoiselle. Perhaps after I’ve done the other sixteen classes.” Bridgette smiled.

“That’s all I can ask. Thank you, sir!” The three girls turned around, and Marinette and Rose beamed at Bridgette, surprised.

“Bridgette, that was so—”

“—kind of you!”

“—impressive!”

Rose and Marinette look at each other, chuckling a little. Rose then gasped. “Oh! Juleka was going to the bathroom, I bet she’s in there! Maybe she’s touching up her hair or something?” She waves her hand as she runs off towards the bathroom.

Bridgette looks over at Marinette, who looks a little stern. “What?”

“When were you going to tell me you went into photography, Bridgette?” Marinette pursed her lips. “I thought you didn’t know what you were going to do when you grow up!”

Bridgette grimaced a little as she looked away. “Yeah…” She faintly recalled her sister telling her that she disapproved of lies. “Look, it’s for Juleka, okay?”

Marinette sighed. “I know, _just_ … I know.” Marinette looked towards the clock. “You think we can make it back in time with the money?”

Bridgette bit her lip. While the bakery wasn’t too far away, a round trip on foot would take a little long. “Lady Luck would…” She felt Tikki nudge her in her dress pocket, and opened it up to see the kwami’s disapproving stare.

“You’re not supposed to use your powers for ulterior motives,” the kwami warned cautiously. Bridgette bit her lip.

“But it’s not _entirely_ ulterior, it’s for Juleka,” Bridgette whined.

“You can’t taint Lady Luck’s lucky streak by using it for that. I don’t make the rules.” Bridgette’s eyes narrowed.

“If I—Lady Luck—have a lucky streak, how come I got a concussion when I was her? Shouldn’t that be impossible?” Tikki sighed.

“You were with Chat Noir. While you have a lucky streak, he has an unlucky one. The two of you balance each other, either amplifying or nullifying them completely depending on the circumstance.” Tikki looked annoyed. “Normally, his streak wouldn’t overpower yours, but considering what the current Chat Noir did…”

“What did he do?” Marinette wondered. Bridgette’s eyes shot up to her, and she gasped.

“You can go for me!” Bridgette grabbed Marinette’s shoulders, her smile widening. “Since you’re not Lady—”

“ _Shhhhh!_ ” Bridgette looked down at her pocket, then up at some innocent students who might have been observing. She sweated for a few seconds, giving a sheepish smile, before turning back to Marinette. “ _Since you’re not Lady Luck, you can take the earrings and run over to the bakery for me,_ ” Bridgette whispered eagerly. “ _That way, my lucky streak won’t get messed up!_ ”

Both Tikki and Marinette exchanged a wary look. “ _Bridgette, this sounds like a bad idea,_ ” Marinette whispered worriedly. “ _Shouldn’t you keep the earrings with you?_ ”

Bridgette bit her lip. “Well… yeah, but, it’s only for a few minutes!” She pulled Marinette by the arm outside, looking around for any students. When she spotted none, she took the earrings from her ears. They reverted from their old black studs to the flashy Miraculous. She held them out to Marinette, who gaped.

“Bridgette, no.” She shut Bridgette’s hands. “This is a terrible idea.” Bridgette sniffed a little, and Marinette rolled her eyes. “ _No._ ”

“It’s only for a few minutes,” Bridgette repeated. She reopened her hands, and held it closer to Marinette. “Just a few minutes.”

Marinette gave her a long look as she started to put the earrings in. Tikki was visibly unhappy. “Remember, just have to go to the bakery,” Bridgette reminded her.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Marinette muttered as she went to go hide somewhere.

Bridgette watched the sky, waiting to see red and black polka dots at any second. Sure enough, there Marinette was, shouting above her as she threw the yo-yo aggressively. Bridgette chuckled nervously. _I hope I’m really not wrong in having her do this for me,_ Bridgette thought as she bit her knuckles.

_12:19 PM_

Adrien heard a shout as he and Félix headed outside to his car, and turned upwards. He squinted his eyes. “Is that… Lady Luck?” Félix turned his head rather aggressively, looking upwards with his hand blocking the sun. A red blur flashed in the corner of his eye, as the shouts faded out.

“That… sounded like her?” Félix’s eyes widened. “Did she spot an akuma?” He noticed, standing a few feet away, was Bridgette.

To be honest, Félix had been a little suspicious that Bridgette had been Lady Luck—considering how similar they look. However, if that’s Lady Luck up there… “Then she can’t be,” Félix mused aloud, catching the girl’s attention. Bridgette turned, her concerned expression turning into one of happiness.

“Hello, Félix! Headed to lunch?” She asked with her obnoxiously loud voice. Félix rolled his eyes.

“Is that not what everyone does during lunch time?” Adrien elbowed him, and Félix rubbed his arm a little, shooting Adrien a dirty look.

“Yes, we are, Bridgette,” he said warmly. His green eyes flicked around for a few seconds, confused. “Where’s your sister?”

Bridgette smiled a little. “Oh, you know… just getting lunch.” Félix looked at her empty arms for a second, and then back at her smiling face.

“Are you not eating, yourself?” Bridgette’s eyes widened, and her smile stretched even more.

“Oh! I am! Marinette and I usually… eat outside, so I figured I’d, y’know, make sure no one took our spot!” Adrien’s eyes sparkled.

“You and Marinette have a special lunch—”

“ _Adrien, Félix, get in the car,_ ” Nathalie called. Félix could spot her annoyed expression from here. Félix snagged Adrien’s arm, which was attached to a very dejected blonde teen. “Maybe one day, we’ll join you,” Adrien called wistfully, waving at Bridgette as he was dragged away.

Félix glanced back at Bridgette as Adrien got in the car. She gave a bright smile, and waved at him excitedly. Rolling his eyes, he stepped in after Adrien and shut the door.

_12:14 PM_

“Juleka?” Rose called softly. “Juleka, are you in here?”

The moment she opened the bathroom door, she was overwhelmed with pain and guilt in the form of hidden sobs. The sound came from a stall blocked by a chair. _Chloé._ Rose gasped, and ran over to pull the chair away and open the door. “Poor, sweet Juleka,” Rose murmured as she saw Juleka sitting there, crying.

Juleka stood up. “I missed the photo… didn’t I.” Rose bit her bottom lip.

“Yes, but—” Juleka pushed past her, wringing her hands.

“Why should I have expected this to be any different,” Juleka sniffled. “Nobody ever hears me or sees me. I’m invisible… in photos, and in person.” Rose teared up.

“Juleka, that’s not true! You’re not invisible!” Juleka stopped for a second to turn and face her, her eyeliner smudged beneath her eyes.

“Forget it, Rose. As long as Chloé’s in the picture, she’s going to make sure that I’m not.” Juleka started to run towards the door, and Rose reached out after her.

“Juleka, please, wait!”

“Rose, please forget it!” Juleka’s shoulders hunched as she held the door open. “Forget… _forget me._ ” She ran out, leaving Rose standing there with her hand stretched out.

\--

_Juleka_ hated _school._

_For as long as she had been going, so had Chloé… and no matter what Juleka did, Chloé seemed determined to put her down._

_She wiped at her face aggressively, her eyes stinging from all her tears. “I… I could be a model,” she whispered to herself, hugging her knees. She buried her face into her arms. “I… I could.”_

“My mom is the Queen of Fashion,” Chloé sneered. _Juleka sobbed even harder._

_She heard the crunching of leaves as someone walked up. It was quiet as they knelt downwards._

_“Hey… are you alright, Juleka?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, realizing that nadya's name is spelled nadja and i may have been flipping back and forth and now need to fix previous chapters: HERE WE GOOOOO
> 
> me, also realizing that in the very first chapter i accidentally set tikki and plagg with genders even though i've been trying to keep them gender neutral: H E R E W E G O O O O O O O O O O
> 
> ME, ALSO REALIZING THAT THE TV STATION IN THE SHOW HAS A NAME: cool
> 
> yeah this is why self-editing sucks kiddos lmao
> 
> Can we talk about how Vincent is absolutely great and just shuts down Chloé right then and there when she's complaining? Absolute legend.
> 
> hope y'all are staying safe and sane!


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